“Orders will take 1 to 3 weeks to arrive! In the meantime, play some videogames!”
-the order page for The Gamer’s Quarter.

I placed my order exactly three weeks ago and did what it said. After Mario Kart, Sonic Rush, some Phoenix Wright and a bunch of assorted console games, whatdyaknow, it came! It was pretty exciting to get as I arrive home at 12:30 a.m. after being at work since 12:30 p.m. (my job is pretty intense right now, but it’s only until thursday this week as i learn the ropes. i didn’t expect it to be like this, but it is, and it’s pretty cool. and i’m off til January after this week.)

I’ve read the online version of the first two TGQs, but ceased reading the third when I found out there was going to be a print version. “Life, Non Warp DX” and the Nippon Ichi articles were all I’d read (well, and the comics), and they’re going to get read again. First.

It looks pretty badass from the outside, with its color Makai Kingdom cover and paperback-like size. The inside is black and white, which makes the pictures look rather bad (since most are low-contrast screenshots), but the text looks fine, and that’s what counts.

The semesterly UTA student magazine, Renegade, also came out this week. And I’ve been commanded to pick up the latest Nintendo Power. I’ve got some stuff to read.

Magazines = <3.

One week of classes left. Around this time of year, I like to do a little shopping. Just a little, for used games. Stuff that’s going out of style. Something to get me through the long, dark holiday vacation. Last year, I was ending an MMORPG addiction to Ragnarok that had lasted three years or so, and I hadn’t really enjoyed any other games at all during that time. I acquired a DS shortly after ending my relationship with RO. Played Mario 64 and Mr. Driller until my fingers fell off, and was happy. Now though, it’s probably the last time I’ll have so much free time, what with my job and graduating in summer of aught-6.

So far, I’ve picked up Out Run 2 and La Pucelle, and I’m seriously going to get Paper Mario in the next couple of days. The onslaught of DS games has stopped a little, with Animal Crossing being the last I’ll get for a bit. I’d also like to play more Phantom Brave and Mario Sunshine because they’re very sunny games. I’ll need to finish Alundra sometime soon too, since it has the most dreary atmosphere. I also have a copy of Kingdom Hearts that I’ve been borrowing for the past 8 months, hoping that it would catch on. It hasn’t yet, but I’ll give it another try.

Anyone else find themselves stocking up for the winter or playing only certain kinds of games during this time of year?

Are you looking for an old-school Sonic experience? If you’re my age, you probably are. If you spent your 16-bit days on the Sega side of the street, then you probably spent too much time holding down and tapping wildly at A, B, or C to clear some loop-de-loop and blasting through tubes. It was different from anything else at the time, and most importantly, it was well-executed and so much fun that most of us still talk about it.

Get it out of your system now. Please. Go find your Genesis, or get an emulator, and play Sonic 2 through at least the end of Chemical Plant Zone Act 1, and then come back. Or at least pretend you did, so you can keep reading.

I ask you to do this because there is nothing old-school about Sonic Rush. If you want old school, petition Sega to bring out a Sonic collection for the DS. You probably won’t have much luck, because they have all been released on consoles already. You can try though.

I only go into that little spiel because I dealt with the subject myself. After hearing that Sonic Rush was going to be the most old-school, fastest, bestest sequel to Sonic 3 ever, I wasted no time paying full price for it. (it went on sale at Fry’s for $25 two days later. such is being a fanboy retard.) Playing it, I realized that it was no old-school Sonic. It is fast, but the levels are giant speedways with few enemies, few landmarks to remember, and repetitive “Sonic devices” (you know… different ways of propelling you, basically). The spin dash has been completely replaced with a meter that lets you blast forward instantly. If you push R in midair, Sonic does a sort of jump-kick thing. That’s not the Sonic I knew from back when he had to step on a button that ended the level and released all the bunnies from their mechanical cage.

The point is that old-school Sonic, and old-school level design and simple play mechanics to an extent, are dead. Can designers still KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID though? They can. I’m not mourning anything, but the fact is that the mentality that produced older games has irrevocably expanded.

The rest of this is a little more positive. Push A to continue.
(more…)

It seems that my red already-replaced-once-due-to-bad-hard-drive-but-still-awesome Zen Micro is broken again.

Amusing! I have a Zen Micro with a flipped screen now! Music still plays on it just fine. Other than the display cutting out erratically and sometimes being littered with LCD garbage, everything works. I’ve already got an RMA for this one, so no worries. They asked for an alternate color, so I picked orange; I hope that I get an orange Zen now. The color choice was what attracted me to the ZM. Not a good reason to buy a portable music device.

I now know why a ZM is less expensive than an iPod. Creative are cheap bastards. If they keep breaking on me, I’ll be rolling in Zen Micros for Life!!

I think my DS is having problems. It started last night, when I was at school during the evening, karting it up outside the Student Publications Office. It was getting cold. My lower screen started to switch rapidly between the two map views. After some minor WTFing, I turned it off. I reinsterted the cart (i once had a weird issue where it wouldn’t sleep on close, replacing the cart made it stop.), and booted it. The touch screen was still getting poked by some phantom force. It skipped the warning and went right into the GBA game.

I turned it off. I cleaned the screen off, and made sure there weren’t any ghosts hovering around me. Upon restart, there were a few errant touches on the screen, but it went away. I went inside, and played some more Mario Kart without incident.

I thought maybe it was due to the cold or something, but it did it again this evening. Indoors, at a reasonable temperature. GRAAAAAAAAH.

This DS has been through a lot. Not as much as my old one, but still, it’s seen more wear than the average DS. It’s had a rather large cup of water spilled on it. It’s been hacked (with flashme), and then unhacked. It’s had a ridiculous amount of stickers on it. Most importantly, it never leaves my side unless it’s charging or in someone else’s hands (thanks to my scissors bag! i should write about that sometime.), and I play it a hell of a lot. It’d be something if it kept track of how long it was on, because I’d be able to see how much of my life I’ve wasted spent on it.

At this point, I have a few options.
1.) Get Nintendo to replace it. Do they need a sales receipt?
2.) Sell it, blow a little more money and buy a new red DS to become the envy of my cohorts.
3.) Uhhhhh…

I’m liking #2. How broke am I right now? Not broke enough, apparently.

But realistically, I’ll check into #1 first.

I’m supposed to be working on a four-page critique of T.S. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. So, naturally, what I’m doing is messing with graphics and stuff.

There’s a new top banner. It’s more organic and fall-like, because it’s actually starting to get cool here with highs in the 60s instead of the 80s. Consequently, all the bugs, which are my sworn mortal enemies, shall die soon. AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! So that’s why there’s a new top banner.

The borders are tighter now. It looks like the page is one long slate or something now. I dunno if I like it, I’ll give it some time. It probably could use more width.

There’s a few new 80x15 link buttons. And a link to Jeffrey’s blog. Some of the filenames have changed, so those who link to mine should get your own. (i’ll take my own advice, since i’m also stealing some from Kammo. XD)

Of all the times for me to get these two games. I was looking forward to both of them since near the DS’s inception (btw: monday is the DS’s birthday!), a time when a ton of great-sounding titles were promised. Most of those have actually come out, and I think we live in very exciting times because of it. I’m going to end up with more DS games than I have ever owned for any system ever. However, I spend all my time with the hot item, Mario Kart. To be fair, it will cool off eventually, but it’s everything right now.

I’m a complete Sonic fiend, and I’ve maybe spent an hour with Sonic Rush. It’s too early to pass judgment on the level design, but I don’t think it’s going to be as great as Sonic 2’s. It still has an incredible feeling of speed, and fun new mechanics. I’ve played only four levels (*sob*), and I want more.

Also, this seems to be the first US Sonic in which “Dr. Robotnik” is called Eggman. Interesting change of translation there.

The other game is Phoenix Wright. I didn’t know what to expect out of this game. I didn’t think anyone could make a lawyer game. The idea is absurd; it’s like making a game based on being an accountant, or working in fast food, or moving boxes (take that, Shenmue!). But, with such unanimous favor, it couldn’t be bad. I finished the introductory case completely wowed. I’m a little bit shocked that I actually have to pay attention to the facts in a game! When was the last time that happened? Trace Memory, with its quizzes, dosen’t count. My girlfriend started watching me play, but was eventually drawn into it so much that she was yelling at the witness and playing right alongside me. We got stumped at some points, and we pulled through eventually. The introduction wasn’t a cakewalk, but it wasn’t too hard. It was just right.

I have plenty of games for my well-deserved winter break, so come Dec. 5, I’m going to be glued to my DS.

Make games look like games again! Support the Blue Sky In Games Campaign NOW!

From UKR via Media Hussy’s sidebar, because pr0 is so awesome. I agree with the sentiment, but what side is Shadow the Hedgehog on?

The king only gives you the letter from the princess AFTER you defeat the Koopa and undo the curse. It reads something like “Thank you Mario! Here is a letter from the princess.”

It should go like this:

“Many thanks, Mario. Here is my end of the bargain, and we’ll stop intercepting your mail. Heh heh heh.”

*Mario takes the letter and begins to walk out. Guards seize him and throw him out the front door.*

“…and don’t fuck with the kingdom of Grass Land!” (or insert whatever world you were just in)

Mario always did have a lot of dramatic potential.

Lack of posting? Noooooooooooo~ Old-ass pictochat drawing of a Game Boy in love? Noooooooooooo~

I’ve found myself waiting a lot in the past few days. Waiting to know if I got the copy chief job (either way will be relieving), waiting on things to come in the mail, Mario Kart especially since I just made a ranty little post on the GC, waiting for the semester to end, then waiting on grades.

Although, I managed to get into some time with Phantom Dust last night. Since I don’t have an ex-box, my friend keeps my copy. He got it out and started playing yesterday, and I watched while hanging out in irc. Immediately, I felt jealous. The game is so unique and fun, and I hadn’t thought about it for a long time (being a DS owner is a full time job for me nowadays). He’s addicted to it, and he only started playing to keep himself from playing Forza for another entire day. It’s the XBox’s Katamari: It’s original and it’s cheap and it’s unknown, but the originality and atmosphere is something I wouldn’t normally associate with Microsoft, and it’s fun. Battles are way too much fun. It underscores the fact that these Espers have to spend most of thier lives hanging out in dreary underground hideouts, hiding from the Dust, and the joy in their life is spending fifteen minutes at a time above ground, fighting monsters and looking for lost memories.