Just Rollin'

I finally gave in over the weekend and ordered Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy or We Love Katamari as it is also know. I wasn't going to, but after fiddling around on the weekend with my PS2, I popped Katamari Damacy in and just wanted more. Now I know many people from PAL regions haven't played the first one, Namco just refused to release it and stiffed us, even with the petition I started. Now I wasn't going to import this, even though I do love importing, I also like to support the local PAL gaming scene. I mean how is it ever going to get better if we don't support it and just import? Right it wont. So anyway I know that after bugging Namco they did tell me they were planning to release "We Love Katamari" in PAL territories, though what do I have to go on? The US release is in a few months an Namco haven't said "Boo" about it.

So even though I'm all for a PAL/English version I'm not prepared to wait 6 months and it still not be released. I always thought that Namco could do a compilation, and just put both games together for like $60, why not seems great to me. I really don't see the point on releasing a sequel when the they didn't release the original, the story will make fuck all sense. Though if Namco do release the Katamari games in the PAL region, I would re buy them. Yes, something I don't normally do, but I would love to have an English translation of them. So any I'll put up some impressions when I get hold of it.

Other things. You remember those Japanese candies I bought, which at first kind of offended my tongue, well I now can't get enough of them. Once you get used to how sour they are, they friggin rock. So I bought some more, haha. This time I picked up the lemon ones as well. I also decided to pick up another one of those Virtual On One Coin figures since I was so impressed with the first one.

Oh and I just started watching that show called The Scene. I've only watched the first episode but it intrigued me and I downloaded the rest of them.

Killer Bargain

Shit I forgot to mention that Killer 7 as you might know is out here on the 22nd of this month. I think it supposed to be released earlier in the UK on the 15th. So bearing that in mind you can pick it up from CD-Wow for about $67, and if you use a CD-Wow voucher it's even less, I got it for around $61 for some strange reason. Because it's CD-Wow it should ship on the 15th, and only takes about 4 days. Better than paying the top end RRP at EB.

Goodies From Japan

As I sit here listening to various tracks from the Jet Set Radio soundtrack, I just can't help but think of many a strange thing.

A load of stuff that I ordered from Play-Asia arrived today, just things that I wanted, you know I kept seeing them on the site and just had to purchase them. The picture of the PSP at the top of the page, it looks like a standard PSP.. ohhh wow.. But wait, it's now sitting atop a Compact Charger Stand. I mainly brought it just so that my PSP had somewhere to sit, but it's also great for charging it. Just plonk it down there when it's got to be charged, no probs. This one cost about $9, there is another that's about $40 or so and includes a audio jack, but I didn't really need that and also didn't want to spend that much on it.



This here is one of the new Virtual-On: Cyber Troopers One Coin Figures. The reason I only picked up one of these is because I was unsure of the quality of it, and the other being that they are over $10 each, yes that's right $10. I don't know what that one coin shit is, but last time I checked I didn't have any $10 coins on me.

Even though it did cost $10, I have to say it is excellent quality. You can tell from the that shitty picture but it has a great level of detail on it. Also the figure is possible with each of the limbs and head all moving. I'll probably pick up some more of these, only problem is that they ship randomly in a little cardboard box, so it's kinda hard to get the whole set.



Speaking of gashapon, I also picked up one figure from the Capcom Girls Collection 2. Again I wasn't sure what these would be like so I only picked up one, but they are currently on special and only $2.50 each. Again the one I got was excellent quality and very cute looking, so I'll defiantly pick up a few more of these.



This is more of a word of caution than anything. These things here are a kind of sour/sweet candy hybrid. Now I love this kind of stuff, but these have a weird kind of taste. For one they are very sour, the brown ones are cola and pretty sour, the blue are supposed to be lemonade but are really sour. They do taste kind of like their supposed flavour, but not enough to drive me into a frenzy.

Something You Shouldn't Do

There is a good reason why I didn’t post yesterday, apart from kind of forgetting, I was messing around with my PSP for a while once I got home. You see my poor PSP doesn’t get that much use, since it’s a portable device, the only time it gets any real use is when I’m getting my car serviced. Anyway with all the talk oh, homebrew, piracy and loaders I had to see what all the fuss was about. Now I don’t advocate or support piracy, I don’t even chip my consoles, I think people should support the software creators and such, plus if you read this site you know how much gear I buy. However I had this burning desire to see if I could get something I didn’t really own to run on my PSP. So I grabbed all the files needed and gave Coded Arms a bit of a test, it didn’t want to run at first but only because of some miss named file antics. I don’t really know why, stuff like this just intrigues me, I shouldn’t be able to do it, yet I can.

So anyway Coded Arms from the memory stick, it’s what I would say “far to easy” to do. Though I don’t feel too guilty, Coded Arms is a bit shit anyway. I played the first City level through, and I kid you not, that for about 7 levels, it was the same stage with things just re-arranged. I think a FPS could work on the PSP, just not with the awkward controls that Coded Arms implements. Basically you use the analogue stick to move, and then buttons to look around, yeah I know weird. You then use the D-Pad to zoom, and reload, and the right shoulder button to fire. Even after you do get used to it, it’s still messy. I think you can alter the way the controls work, but I can’t be that bothered. Plus the game is a little dull.

One thing that is good about these loaders, if that if you say own Lumines as I do. You can put that onto you memory stick and have the choice to play either that or say Wipeout on the UMD that is in the PSP. I know ultimately these types of things are mainly piracy, but they do have practical uses as well.

Henshin a-go-go, baby!

As I mentioned in yesterdays post, I picked up Viewtiful Joe 2 for PS2. If you played VJ1 you will know the deal with this one, if you haven't played VJ1, well you really should. Plus I'm not going to explain how VJ works, it's just too hard. Anyway VJ2 is pretty much the same thing, except now you can also play as Silvia, Joe's girlfriend. You have all the same moves as before, but you can actually "tag" with Silvia during gameplay. The main reason for this is certain puzzles require either Joe or Silvia, and I think some later on in the game require both. As you might recall, one of Joe's powers was Machspeed, which allowed him to catch on fire. Well Silvia has one called Replay, which is similar, allowing you to record a move and play it back 3 times, this also charges her with electricity.

So anyway after playing it for a little while it's pretty much the same as the original VJ just with the new Silvia element. The cutscenes are kind of slow at times, and not really as funny as the original VJ, they seem to have these weird pauses in them which just makes them drag. Also this time the game is based through different periods in time, which gives it a bit of variety. The game is still fun, and it's a seems a little easier than the Original game, well so far anyway. The original I ended up playing on Easy just to finish it because it got really brutal.

Another new addition is a section called "The 36 Chambers", which area series of rooms unlocked via the main story game. These rooms are, from what I can tell so far battles against groups of enemies with certain conditions, things like having an time limit or just one life. An interesting addition to the main game, though they seem fairly hard, I'll have to put some more time into them.

If you were a fan of VJ1 and wanted some more after it, VJ2 is really an essential purchase, if you just got frustrated by the original probably best leave this one alone because it's just more of the same.

Other things. I forgot to mention with King of Fighters Maximum Impact, apart from coming in a really nice cardboard outer cover, and with the bonus glossy moves book, it also comes with a bonus DVD. It's pretty much just about the game, some interviews and features of the game. It's a well put together pack, which is quite funny considering the game.

I also played a little more Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles the other day, and this game is really aimed at multiplayer. It's just that the single player doesn't really offer much at all, it's not very deep and is over simplisic. Also the combat doesn't consist of much at all, were I thought there might be more there, but there just isn't. Nice looking game, and well presented, just not really suited for single players.

2D Going 3D

I finally game in today and picked up Viewtiful Joe 2, and King of Fighters: Maximum Impact. Viewtiful Joe 2 cost me $40, and KoF: MI was $35, pretty much why I picked them both up from EB. I wasn't sure on KoF:MI, because normally 2D to 3D conversions suck ass big time, and I had read both good and bad things about the game. However I was pleasantly surprised with it.

The first thing I noticed with Maximum Impact is the sheer speed of it, it's right up there with it's 2D counterpart, well more of less. I am seriously not kidding, it's the fastest goddamn 3D fighter I have ever played, and I love it for that. I've always wanted a 3D fighter that played at a 2D pace, but until now nothing has really done it right. If this game had a little more work done on it and polish, it would be a wicked fighter. Because it's KoF, all your favourite characters are here, with all their trademark moves and you can pull of some utterly ridiculous combos and juggles in the game, even bouncing opponents off of walls in the process.

Though one thing that is fairly obvious, the game being the way that it is, it's very open to button mashing, though this isn't too bad as it does allow people of any skill to play, and this game would make a great 2 player outing. One other thing to note is that the way the game plays, being very fast, I found it a bit of a strain to use the Dual Shock controller. After playing though story mode just once, my thumb really ached after it, though any arcade sick would make a great difference.

If you have ever played a KoF game you know the deal, this is pretty much the same deal but just in 3D, I know it's hard to believe. The controls are fairly solid in the game, though I did find that getting up after being knocked down is hard at times, there doesn't really seem to be a back roll or anything, you just get up which leaves you open to your opponent smacking you again. It quite a clean looking game as well, just he 3D arenas look a bit plain, they kind of reminded me of Fighting Vipers.

What I would love to see happen, is that Capcom, or SNK work with someone has already produced a 3D fighter like Namco or Techmo and produce a seriously fast 3D fighter. Maybe Street Fighter vs Tekken, it could seriously work if it was produced like Maximum Impact is, just with more polish and some reworked gameplay mechanics.

In the end, for $35 if your a KoF fan, or just looking for a fun 3D fighter to have a bash with a friend it defiantly worth a look.

I'll talk about Viewtiful Joe 2 tomorrow.

Floods and Fun

Because of the huge storms on the Gold Coast, which you might have seen on TV, I didn't actually make it into work today. It pretty much rained here, from about 3am to 9am, solidly. Which caused about 3 or 4 of the roads around where I live to become submersed. When I say there was a lot of water on the roads, things like big 4WD's didn't even dare take on the challenge.

So I did what anyone would do, stayed home and gamed all day. First thing I did was download the Battlefield 2 demo and have a bit of a play with that. I find it a fairly interesting game, and love the choices of different classes, and variety of weapons. Plus even with all the graphics on high it just runs a treat on my system. Blow up tanks with anti-tank weapons is a real blast. Though one think I did find disappointing, besides the matches only lasting 10mins because its a demo, was the weapons themselves. Maybe it's from playing a fair amount of CS lately, where the weapons are very pronounced and vivid. It's just in Battlefield 2, when you fire say a pistol, it just has this really weak ping feel to it. Even things like the sniper rifle just feel lifeless. I always think gun in FPS's need to have a real kick to them, to make it feel more realistic and it gives you much needed feedback.

I also finally stated to play Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. I didn't expect it to be anything like it is, it's more like an adventure game than an RPG. At it's core you create a character, then follow a set path to certain places, to collect a certain liquid from these special trees. There isn't really anything wrong with that, you defiantly won't get lost. The combat is fairly simple, and works well, more hack and slash style. Also it has such a great look and feel to it, much more than I was expecting. I try and play some more into it, as it might have more depth to it. Though even if it doesn't it's not really a problem, simples sometimes is better.

Bad Habits

I've gotten into a fairly bad habit with games recently. Well, I actually don't know if it's so much a bad habit or a normal thing. It's just that I keep seeming to buy new games, and only play them for a short while, then move onto something else. I've got a load of games now that I've only played very briefly, some I haven't even started. Though I just really like buying new games, whether a new release or a bargain I've just got to have it. Even now I'm thinking of picking up Viewtiful Joe 2 or King of Fighters Maximum impact from EB, and shit Viewtiful Joe, while it was really cool, was too goddamn hard and just pissed me off. I think I might of posted about this before, but it's just getting worse now.

Though in my defence, I will play right through a game if I really get into it. Also most of the time I'll play a game up to a point where it just annoys me with some sort of stupid difficulty, or I just get bored with it. The difficulty thing is quite an important thing for me, since I like to play a few different games, I don't want to have to "perfect" everything in a goddamn game just to pass a level, it's pointless, that's what "hard" or "ultra-hard" modes are for. "Normal" mode should be enjoyable, not a bloody trial.

I'm also still playing a bit of Counter-Strike, I thought it might be one of those things that I just needed to get out of my system, guess not. It probably won't last too long, it just takes time away from other games. It's just so addictive.

I just noticed that the weekly special over at Play-Asia is Armored Core Formula Front on PSP. Now I've read that this game is a mech simulator, you build a custom mech and then it fights a simulated battle, and I know that there is so much fucking Japanese in the game that it difficult to play. But...I just want to buy it because it's $29!

Tekken Advantage!

So I played a little more Tekken 5 today, and yeah it's not bad I'm starting to get back into it. Currently just going through Story Mode and unlocking a few extra characters. The one thing that I really can't understand is the cheap ass Jinpachi boss. Now I've seen some pretty cheap bosses in fighting games (DOA3 anyone?), however Jinpachi is the "CHEAPEST BOSS EVER!". Now I don't mind a bit of a challenge when it comes to a boss, but at no point in any fighting game, does a character need to produce a FIREBALL, from the MOUTH in his STOMACH, that does 50-80% damage. I just don't understand cheap arse bosses in fighters. He has some other crazy shit as well, like a stun move, some energy rush and just ridiculous damage per hit ratio. Though the best thing has to be how he actually teleports backwards then produces the fireball, which you can't block. You can sidestep it, but that isn't always as easy as it might seem.

Anyway apart from that the game is great, very nice stages now, no real boring crap. Also for some reason my PS2 won't let me play any of the old Arcade games or the Devil Within mini game. Damn PS2 *shakes fist*

Fighting For It

Bujingai and Tekken 5 arrived today from Play-Asia. I'll start with Bujingai because out of the two it impressed me the most. I didn't really know what to expect going into this game, as I'd seen many mixed opinions on it, but also a lot of very good ones. One in particular mentioned that it was like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with Gackt" so I pretty much went in with that in mind. What I didn't expect was a game that has such solid controls and enjoyable combat system. Think of Ninja Gaidens controls mixed with the fluidity and playfulness of the action from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and you have an idea of how this game plays.

It's so unexpected when you first start playing that is just catches you off guard, especially the way that combos just rolls of your buttons and the awesome parry system. If you manage to hit the attack button at just the time an enemy is about to strike you, you parry their attack, landing many a blow upon then, which can then be carried into a combo. The one boss fight that I've played so far is basically a really large sword/parry fight with wicked visuals. The only complaint I have about the game is the rather bland textures and environment, though I haven't played a great deal of the game yet it's just that so far it's very open, but not much really fills the space.

Since Bujingai has had a PAL release it's quite easy to pick up, but you will probably want to try and get it for around $30, because while it a interesting game I've heard that it's quite short and wouldn't be worth shelling out too much for. Just one too look out for at some point.

Now Tekken 5. It seems that Namco has taken a few cues from Sega's Virtua Fighter 4 release, since the Arcade Mode now incorporates the whole ranking system, and a load of other stuff. It's not as well done and VF4 but it does the job. I really wish that the game let you use the Analogue Sticks in the main game, because after playing for an hour or so with the D-Pad I always seem to get a really sore thumb!

Anyway, the game looks and sounds great, I would have to say Arcade quality conversion, similar to VF4. I haven't played Tekken in a while and it always takes sometime to get back into it. As a result I got my arse handed to me a number of times in Arcade Mode. The only real issue I had was that the CPU really seems to take too much advantage of hitting you when your down, and abusing the whole juggling thing. Now I don't really mind this when I've played the game for a little while, but right of the bat it's goddamn frustrating. Other characters are worse than others, namely Hihatchi (barstard). Though it does push you into improving your game, which I guess works.

I really wanted to check out the bonus Tekken games that come included with it, but my PS2 was having none of it and wouldn't load them. So I'll try and fix that and see if I can get them to play.

Firestarter

I tried to start playing Breath Of Five V of on the weekend, but didn't really get too far in it. The thing was, I'd just built a new PC for a friend, so as I was waiting for Windows XP, the various service packs and updates to install, I'd thought I would have a bit of a play thought it.

However it all ended fairly abruptly when I died half way thought the first section, annoyed at this and finding I would have to replay said section I turned the game off in disgust at it's ridiculous difficulty level so early in the game. Now I like a challenge and all, but this game really can get you off side with the way it plays. The amount of enemies you encounter, the amount of health you have, the amount of damage that they deal and being unfamiliar with the battle/combo system really make the game difficult at first, the combos being very important as they allow you to deal much more damage.

Anyway so after thinking I wouldn't return to the game I decided about an hour ago to try it again. This time with increased stats, and knowing what I was doing I blazed though the first section of the game with ease. So now I'm back into it and looking quite forward to what the game has in store.

It's a great looking game with a sort of future sci-fi feel to it, and the cel-shading used thought out is great, sort of Wind Waker but darker and more gritty. I never really played a Breath of Fire game before, only once very briefly on the PSX so I can't really compare it. There are no random battles which is a nice change, as you can avoid battle if you don't feel ready to take on so many enemies. The battle system is turn based allowing you to chose from different ranges of attacks, which can be used in combination to produce more damage. So far it seems interesting enough, and worth checking out if you an RPG fan, and at $25 from EB is well worth a look.

Added Content

The last of the Gamma Pack updates for Wipeout Pure hit yesterday, and I gleefully downloaded it and installed it on my PSP today. Gamma Pack 3 includes 2 new skins and 2 new tracks, now new ships this time unfortunately. The new skins follow the trend of the last two, being that of the mains teams.They are a skin for Qirex, that is purple with white text, and Auricom that is blue with red text. Both look quite nice, and make a change. I've currently got the Auricom one applied.

The two new tracks are Exostra Run and Ubermall. Exotra Run is quite a fast track, with more downward slops than up, and a fair amount of wide open corners with boost pads before them, quite a fun and fluid track to race on. Ubermall on the other hand is quite the opposite. It has a fair few tight sections with fairly tight corners, leading to either a couple of really long fast corners and high section so track. It's not as fast as Exostra Run, but has some interesting scenery.

Late Night Session

For some strange reason I've started playing Counter Strike Source. I know it's not a strange thing, but I've never been a huge Counter Strike fan or player. Even though I played it back when it first came out, and now and again after that, I was always much more of a Team Fortress Classic guy. I really do miss TFC. Anyway, so I've been playing a bit of CS, and I'd forgotten how long it takes to get good at a game like it. It's still great fun, and I can usually manage to keep more score sort of even.

I was going to try and play a bit of Breath of Fire 5 this weekend, but I don't really know. I have no idea why I buy RPG's, I don't have the time to play them let a long put the time into them to complete them. But we'll see.

I didn't mention this because it's import related, however the weekly special over at Play-Asia this week is Tekken 5 (English language, Asian version). Now normally I don't pick up import games that will get a release in PAL, but it was only $30 and I'll be stuffed if I go out of my way to pay more for it.

Because I was already ordering that I decided to pick up Bujingai from their Big Summer Sale also, and yeah it's pretty big. $12, and it's got Gackt in it.

Killer Stuff

I've been keeping an eye on Killer 7 even since it was announced a couple of years ago. The first screen shots and videos of it always intrigued me, and it seemed like it could be a great game if done right. Though I also had this nagging feeling that it might not turn out as well as it could.

Since the game has been recently released in Japan, there is a first play thread about it over at NTSC-UK which has many favourable mentions of the game. So after reading a few posts I decided to pop over to Gamespot and check out a few of the new videos that are around.

Even though this it's supposed to be "on-rails" so to speak, it sill look like an excellent action/shooter game. With a great dark cell shaded feel to it and wicked style. It's due out for PS2 and Cube on 22nd of next month, so a little over a month away, but I'm sure to be picking this up on release.

Also I mentioned that I picked up House of the Dead 3 on Xbox the other day. Well I played through it, and goddamn it a short game. I managed to finish it the second time though. I remember HotD 2 taking me ages to beat, and that was also using a gun. HotD 3 looks really nice, and plays quite well plus it would be ace with a gun. It's also nice that it unlocks HotD 2 which is also an excellent port and plays very well. Just a shame HotD 3 is so very short.

Mythologies

When I was at EB the other day I scored a demo for the soon to be released, and much raved about God Of War. Even though this game has been getting some great reviews I didn't really pay a huge amount of attention to and brushed it off as another action/adventure game. That was until I actually played the demo. Even though it's quite short in length, the demo gives such a great feel of how the game works.

With a game like God Of War one of the most important elements that needs to be right are the controls, and God Of War excels in this department. Solid, tight and responsive they make the game very playable and really fun, allowing you to pull of some ridiculous combos.

The sound a graphics are also very well done conveying the atmosphere and environment really well. The audio is actually quite outstanding, with some great surround sound effects being implemented.

The gameplay it's self is pretty much your standard action adventure style gameplay, all based around Greek mythology which is an interesting change. There seem to be a few puzzle elements at times in the game that make you think, which adds quite well to the gameplay. One interesting element was on one of the first mid-boss fights, to finish off the boss you had to input a series of quick button presses, quite similar to those old games where you had to hit the right button at the right time during a cinematic. The one I encountered was easy to pull off and the result was excellent and very well executed, leaving me quite satisfied.

God Of Was is due out on 23rd of this month and I would recommend that anyone up for a good action game check it out, with a nice original setting and great gameplay, it's seems to be well worth it.

T-Shirts That Own!

As I am the kind of person who doesn't always want or like to go along the latest "trends" I usually try and find clothing and the like that's more my style. I'm always looking around for decent t-shirts or gaming related ones. I know there are a few sites around which are dedicated to that kinda thing but not many of their designs really grabbed me.

That was until the other day when I stumbled upon Split Reason. If you after any sort of gaming apparel this is the place to check out. They have a serious amount of wicked designs, many web and gaming related. They also have some great looking hoodies and long sleeve shirts. Plus they also have a nice rang of clothing for the ladies. I've put a couple of my personal favs below just for fun.

Also the image at the top of the page is also available as a shirt, and looks the business! There are a load of other shirts that I'm currently loving, and you can check them out at http://www.splitreason.com//click_thru.php?id=45c842cef1118e346bb57b8dbdff97be

Oh, almost forgot to mention that they also sell the little Stikfas toys. I have no idea why but I love these things, so simple, yet so cool.

Fixed

I just went through every post and fixed the images attached to each one, I really underestimated how many posts there were. Anyway it's all done now so they should all work.

New Acquisitions

I know I said before in one of my recent posts that I didn't find much of interest at the recent EB sale, I kind of lied. Well at the time it wasn't a lie, but I dropped by there on the way home from work and pick up a couple of things. After reading the sale catalogue I noticed that House of the Dead III on Xbox was a 40% off title, I've wanted a copy for quite a while but it always fairly hard to find. So this instantly re-ignited my interest in the sale. I got to the store and asked the guy I know quite well if they had any copies of HotD 3, expecting that they didn't when all of a sudden he says "Yeah, one just came in today" Score!. The great thing about HotD 3 is that is also includes HotD 2 as well. I currently don't have a light gun for my Xbox, but I'll work something out.

So after grabbing that he also recommended I check out Breath of Fire 5 on PS2. Since it was 50% off, cel-shaded and a Capcom game, I thought I would give it a try. Hey it's $25, and I've made worse investments (Crimson Sea 2 I'm looking at you).

I also managed to score a demo of God of War, the PS2 action game that everyone seems to be raving about. I'll give that a play soonish and write up some impressions of it.

I've also been playing a bit of FarCry over the past few days, I have mixed feelings about the game, but I'll post some impressions soon.

Oh and that game I mentioned below is Sonic Gems Collection, click here for a link to Sega Europe. It's currently listed with a date of September 2005.

Something Seems Broken

You might notice as you peruse this site that a few of the images are broken, that's because my Optus account (where the images were hosted) ended today, and thus everything now doesn't work. I'm currently in the process of going through the posts and updating the image links, I don't know of an easier way so I'll do it tonight so everything is working again.

Sonic Gems

I was just browsing over at Sega Japan website, when I noticed a new section called Sonic Channel, which is home to a few of the new Sonic games coming soon. Now I remember reading about a new Sonic game coming out that was supposed to have Sonic CD and Sonic Fighters in it, but I didn't realise until just now that it also has Sonic R in the compilation as well. I think this new compilation is called Sonic Gems and is going to include the games mentioned above plus a load of Game Gear games.

I'm unsure of a release date but it looks like August in Japan this year, and it's coming to both Gamecube and PS2.

I've waited a long long time to play Sonic Fighters on a console, and it's finally coming, it's been nearly 10 years sonic I played it in the Arcade. The fact that Sonic CD and Sonic R are on the same disc is so awesome I can't even explain it. Sonic R has some wicked cool music in it, was one of the last Saturn games and is great fun.