All Things Virtual 9.0

It’s certainly been a good long while. Lucky for you, eh? Well, all good things must come to and end and so my silence, too, must die.
After hours and hours – which translate to a crazy amount of real-time days – I managed to complete Final Fantasy XII. While I wasn’t able to keep my hands off of Zelda: TP entirely, I did manage to only do a couple of dungeons there and stick with FF mainly. Funny thing is, now that I’m done with Square Enix’s political opera, I can’t seem to get myself to play TP. In fact, I am playing Zelda, but in its original form. I managed to clear dungeons 1,2,3,4 and 6 in the space of a couple of hours. This after not having played this baby in quite a few years! My memory isn’t that bad, after all, but I could remember where the other dungeons were for the life of me. I eventually remembered that the 5th dungeon is up in the north in a repetitious screen where been obstinate really pays off… then vague memories of the other crept in. This all happened after my play session was done, but I will tackle the task of the first quest’s completion tonight. About the second quest, well, maybe at another time!

I am currently unable to play with my DS. Having acquired a 7 week old pup - a cross-bred Husky with Ridgeback; beautiful – resulted in said canine eating the chord of the DS’s AC Adapter, leaving me without the proper equipment to charge my portable unit. Woe is me! Will have to TT in AC:WW in order to make up for the time away because of circumstances beyond my control.

I have been loaned a copy of Super Smash Brothers Melee and have to say that it sucks to play single player. I gotta get some friends over pronto!


Behold my idiocy!


Treasure: An act to be followed

I have found myself revisiting the classics as of late and procrastinating on the issue of delving into Twilight Princess. Odd, I know! However, after tackling a behemoth like Final Fantasy XII – which took me close to three months to complete -, I have need for quicker, far less involving thrills. Case in point, my re-acquaintance with classics like Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, Silhouette Mirage and even such recent titles as Wario World. What all these titles seem to have in common, first and foremost, is the elusive je-non-se-quois of gaming legend; the fun hardcore-ness of greatly balanced gameplay and quirky charm. The other factor that binds these games together is the fact that they were developed by True-Gamers’ last bastion Treasure.
A testament to what all developers should strive for, Treasure Co. Ltd. espouses what might be the most deep-seated artistic integrity and passionate devotion one could now encounter among the many development houses in the mainstream industry.
Uncompromising and honest, there is a great love for the craft evinced by the myriad games bearing the company’s seal. From Radiant Silvergun to Ikaruga, from Astro Boy: Omega Factor (possibly my favorite handheld game ever) to Guardian Heroes, there is nothing but great game design and dedication put into these gems.
What one can say, in the end, is that Treasure is synonymous with fun, and all other development houses could learn a great deal about making games from this rogue-like team of dream-makers.


Should Rare games be released for online download?

In the advent of digital downloadable content and online distribution a great many of us will get not only to avoid both stores and annoying shipping periods when acquiring new games but to experience anew a great many of the classics we grew up with. Surely there is nothing but joy to be had from this marvelous technological advantage and the veritable troves of virtual treasure that will be within our reach. Right?
Perhaps this might not be such a good thing in a certain sub-stratum of our gaming culture. For some fifteen years or so we gamers have seen titles both great and horrid be produced in low quantities and either sell out all too quickly or become engulfed in some disaster or another, rendering such titles rare and, eventually, expensive. Those us lucky – or sneaky enough – to have acquired some such games have a sense of pride in owning a rare piece of gaming history, especially if the game in question happens to be good. Some of us become what is known as the collector, one who strives to complete and an exhaustive and all-encompassing hoard of games, particularly those that are prone to scarcity. It is those who adhere to this gaming archetype that will likely see much to hold in contempt about the re-issuing of vaunted rare classics for digital distribution.
Personally, I believe this is a good thing. I think that it is the perfect opportunity for those who didn’t have the chance to experience some of the exquisite rarities gamedom has yielded us back when the games were originally created. Sure, our hard copies of these games will likely lose a great deal of value on the online market, but I can surely forgo that if it means that some of the forgotten franchises might get a sequel thanks to their potential popularity on services such as the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console.
For now, we’re talking pre-32bit jewels, but I can easily see an upgraded service of some sort allowing for larger games on Nintendo’s service. How about a proper Saturn emulator on the 360 for download, along with a bevy of games, over Xbox Live?
My wish is for a digital re-issue of Panzer Dragoon Saga, which might hopefully spur SEGA into making a proper sequel. Think about all those lonely games in need of siblings in the form of sequels!


Will frustrated PS3 scalpers turn into Sony customers in the long run?

On another note: Will PlayStation 3 scalpers who were unable to hawk their cash making machines become Sony customers eventually? I mean, now that they have gone and spent a rather ridiculous amount of money to buy a questionable piece of hardware that, much to the chagrin of eBay auctioneers the world over, has managed to stay in stock all over the place hence foiling the plans of re-selling the console for ludicrous amounts of money, one would think the logical solution would be to keep the damn thing. Hell! If one has an entrepreneurial mind, one could charge people in one’s neighborhood to play with the Sony Entertainment Grill and thus make some money back from the idiotic investment. But that’s just me talking.

Mario Paint: Wii are waiting.

After poring through seemingly endless forum threads of people decrying their wishes for certain Nintendo and Third party classics to be given the Wiimote treatment, I came to notice what, in my hopelessly inconsequential opinion, is a glaring omission by the nintendophile community in general. So I am left with the task of asking the big retarded N: WHERE THE HELL IS MARIO PAINT WII!?

Revisiting Panzer Dragoon Saga on the Sega Saturn

Back on the topic of the good old classics, I have been assaulted with the desire to re-play Panzer Dragoon Saga for the umpteenth time. Whether I actually take the time to play this baby in lieu of the megalithic pile of games of the recently elapsed generation or not is of no import. Indeed, it does not preclude me from taking some time to reflect on the great times I have had with what might be one of the most under-appreciated games of the 32 bit generation. Blame the shoddy packaging and SEGA’s brilliant decision to only produce a proportional handful of units for the fact that even some hardcore segaphiles missed out on the best RPG to grace the ill-fated console.
When I do get into replaying PZD Saga I will wax eloquent – or fail miserably at attempting eloquence with a half-assed, misconstrued pile of nigh-unintelligible text, which is altogether more likely – and show you, my inexistent readership, my views on this landmark of gamedom.



My personal highlights of 2006

If someone actually read my tripe I would worry about what this hypothetical audience might like to read. Alas, since there is no such crowd to cater to, I will write about what I like about the past year.

Screw that!

Not even I care about what I liked in 2006 and chances are that it coincided with tons of other online crap articles on what was cool and what sucked. My wit is at an end here.

Oh, that goes for my intended (Insert whiny sarcastic voice here) “What I’m looking forward to in 2007” B.S.

So there! Leave me to my underground cavorting and classic gaming reverie. Now, I must only wait for my freakin’ DS AC Adaptor replacement.