Saturday 31 October 2009

just in case it was unclear

There's another new DS being planned. It's bigger.

However, as I refused to buy the DSi in the first place because of region-locking, I'm

a) Not exactly lining up to get the bigger version of the same problem
b) Not at all surprised that people who bought the downloadable region-locked software are now screwed because there's no way to transfer the software to the bigger handheld if they buy it

Sux 2 be U

torchlight

New action-rpg out, but I never did recover from my grouchiness over the Fate thing.

zen + triple

Finally reached the Ace trophy for Peggle Nights.

Friday 30 October 2009

not only but also

I am a sucker for 2d animation.

This is my only explanation for how in my trip I have somehow managed to obtain an old Leisure Suit Larry game and a copy of Murder in the Abbey.

I'm not yet even certain if either will run, much less if I'll actually enjoy them. This is all related to the fact that there are no game stores where I live, making me weak against temptation when I can actually find stuff. (There are some mainstream stores that sell a very small number of chart-topping games, but that's not the same thing.)

but whose fantasy is it?

We finally managed to play through a full game of Dokapon Journey - the connection *still* reset several hours in, but by that point it was close enough to done that we could finish on one DS.

There is, afaict, no extra dialog written to cover the fact that your female hero is winning the hand of the princess. The princess still seems very excited, and the king says he can't wait to see the grandchildren. However, there are no smoochie pics (I don't think there would be with the male hero either). Alas!

so i was at a used game store

And spotted a number of games which have been on my list of "well, it's probably playable, if I saw it for $5 I guess I'd get it" - at the magic price.

What I ended up with was Deep Labyrinth - it was the only one of the cheap games on my list present with its original box.

(There was a used copy of A Witch's Tale already. But at practically the cost of new. Not interested. I'd rather buy new than buy used for $5 off.)

SUPAA KAWAII PUREJIDENTO!!

(okay, pardon my terrible attempt at japaneselish)

This is... bizarre. And potentially hilarious. (The video is very slightly NSFW in one spot, and is in a mix of Japanese and English.)

Wednesday 28 October 2009

RPGs forever

So, Nostalgia is out, although unless I suddenly hear something TRULY AMAZING about its storyline I have no interest because there are just too many RPGs out right now!

This review can't seem to make up its mind - sometimes it's complaining like crazy about how the game isn't innovative enough, and other times it seems to like the game just fine...

Also, I have a $10 Amazon credit. Must ponder.

Sunday 18 October 2009

Friday 16 October 2009

as if i needed more games to be interested in

Mumblings point out that Atelier Annie: Alchemist of Sera Island is due out shortly. (in English with Japanese voices)

I can't remember if I've looked up anything about this one before. From the description, this sounds like it might be a good one to get for ripping off research purposes. I'm always up for sim/RPG combos...

Thursday 15 October 2009

Tuesday 13 October 2009

sexism hurts men too...

because this creepy, stupid article about getting "your girlfriend" to appreciate games is not flattering to men OR women.

LOL all girls are dumb and shallow and like pink and cats and are afraid of computers!

LOL all boys are dumb and shallow and like jiggling boobies and are afraid of reading!


... and WHY did this article come up in the "DS" listings? Hello, user demographics?

sticky wonderful

Just in case you don't own World of Goo (and why not?) they're doing an anniversary sale, so you can set your own price. (story from game set watch)

Sunday 11 October 2009

need some carpal tunnel in your day?

Cute little super-retro-styled flash run-and-gun platformer. Difficulty is usually not too bad, but a few points are YOW. (First stage of the final boss, a couple of the parts where you have to get by Things That Shoot Two Out Of Three)

http://vacuumflowers.com/star_guard/star_guard.html

Friday 9 October 2009

smug gits

How to make me feel like your expansion pack or downloadable content is just stuff that should have been in the original release but you were too lazy or cheap to finish it, and instead decided to charge me extra to play the game I already bought?

How about making DLC available on launch day?

Look at the 'bright' side - if we sell you a box with only part of a game in it and then sell you the rest of the game in five separate bits, it'll make it harder for the pirates to assemble the whole game! *sigh*

Of course, since I've gotten fed up with the Bioware style of generic plotting and the 'romance' scenes shown of this game were pretty cringeworthy, I'm not exactly a launch-day customer.

katamari

crocheted magnet ball to roll around and pick things up. cute!

http://amysbabies.wordpress.com/magnetic-katamari-pattern/

Tuesday 6 October 2009

off to see the wizard

That Wizard of Oz RPG for the DS is apparently out and not bad, although not nearly special enough to get through my backlog!

Monday 5 October 2009

darn my lack of bilinguality

Rounding up some interesting Japanese-only download titles:

A new version of the Maid Strategy Game, adding a new Alice character and 'collaborative play'.

As before, there's a demo here:


---

Entitled 'Condemnatory Iron Maiden' this appears to have something to do with Nazi-reminiscent military folk and Battle Maids with large weapons. Beyond that, I have NO IDEA. But I wish I did!



(As usual with DLsite links, this particular game is not adult, but there is plenty of adult stuff on the site.)

enjoying the failures of others

I don't have a PSP. I have never had the slightest bit of interest in a PSP. Therefore, the PSP Go was not something that was really on my radar. However, I am still amused by reading a review of it.

In other words, this system is for people who don't mind rebuying all their content, never buy used games, and don't mind paying more for less. If you're agoraphobic and the idea of driving to a physical store to buy a game is terrifying, this system is for you. So we're looking for a gamer who is both wealthy and frighteningly antisocial.

The rest of us will stick with our current hardware, thanks. If you sell a system that takes hours of setup, downloading, and charging before you can see what a game looks like on the screen, you have failed pretty spectacularly. I absolutely love my PSP, but this new iteration of the platform is what would happen if a facepalm was turned into a piece of hardware.

Saturday 3 October 2009

Friday 2 October 2009

which witch?

Poking around, a review for A Witch's Tale (due out in English this week) suggests that it's really easy.

Considering my gaming backlog, that's probably a good thing. Especially with a handheld game (where it's much harder to CHEAT if I get fed up, or to maintain separate saves for strategy testing) I don't necessarily want all that much challenge. It depends on the game, really. A little action-puzzle with individual challenges to master is fun. (Witness my Peggle *obsession*, as I try to rack up bonus challenges... and since I'm on vacation I'm going to have to do it all over again when I get home and reinstall!) But when I'm just following a story I tend not to want to have to pick myself up too many times... especially if it means having to do boring grinding in order to progress.

(I'm not really the biggest JRPG fan actually. And the idea of boss battles that take hours sounds BAD to me.)

However, I still may not bother to pick it up new because I just have too many games right now! I should really get through Rhapsody (which I haven't even started) before I grab another simple RPG.

Thursday 1 October 2009

Coropata

(Hmm, do I need a new blog tag for 'Wacky physics-based puzzling'?)

http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2009/10/01/hands-on-coropata-ds/

One cannot help but admit that it is kawaii.

Don't know how import-friendly it will eventually be. There's clearly dialog, but if the bulk of the game is platform-puzzling, it should be okay, right? However, while it looks like the sort of thing I'd poke at demos for on dojin sites, I'm dubious it would live up to the expense of a full import, especially considering I have a STACK of DS games to play at the moment and I still haven't even purchased Devil Survivor or Layton 2 or the new Mario RPG or...

Did I mention I have a copy of the notorious Doki Doki Majo Shinpan (well, the sequel) and haven't yet actually attempted to play it? (I have a friend who can read Japanese, though, and *he's* been amused by it... apparently one of the witches threatened to turn the PC into a comedian...)