With the DS Lite coming out (officially) in two weeks, I’d like to let everyone know what it’s like. The question is no longer whether or not to buy one, but how quickly and fervently it should be bought. For instance, I bought mine so hard that I payed $70 extra and it flew to me from Japan. (well, okay, Hong Kong. still, i regret nothing!)

I’d like to hit a few points that I have noticed over time, not just the fact that the screen is prettier. Of course it’s prettier. You knew that. That alone is grounds for buying one.

I’ll cut this because it sorta feels like a spoiler. I mean, I have a friend whose DS enthusiasm is only a notch below mine, and he dosen’t want to see a Lite until he has his hands on his own. I play my old DS when I’m around him. He’s a little bitter since I went and preordered one.
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It’s time for speculation and unfounded opinions! Summer’s game drought approaches, but publishers that still want my money continue to entice me. I really like summer though. With less new stuff to play, there’s more time for old stuff.

Here’s a few shallow previews of coming games based mostly on rumor, concept art and gut instinct. That’s basically how I make all my gaming decisions.

Atlus is really kicking some butt on the RPG field, and they have 3 of 4 mentions here, with the fourth publisher being NIS America, which has worked closely with Atlus. They are the new Working Designs, but without the arrogance and lack of business savvy. I frequent their Web page to find out when exactly their excellent translations are coming, even though it’s all in ugly PR-speak press releases. They posted an opening for a text-heavy game tester, and I seriously thought about moving to Irvine, Calif. to put my copy editing skills to work for them (for a couple minutes before remembering that i need to finish my education this time).

Summon Night: Swordcraft Story - I don’t know much about the Summon Night series, aside from a PS2 game (Summon Night Extase) that I watched some videos and artwork of. I was in love a little bit though. It’s kinda hard to find any solid information on this GBA game, and it hardly gets a mention on Atlus’ site. I know it’s an action-RPG, which sounds great. Atlus called it “deceptively cute.” I’m all over it when it comes out at the end of June.

Yggdra Union - Last year, Riviera made my summer. I played it a lot, eventually finishing on July 4, while everyone else was celebrating (by watching TV). It’s a unique RPG, leaving out lots of traditional elements but managing to preserve a sense of wonder and exploration. The developer, Sting, promises an excellent follow-up with this strategy RPG. Reaction has been good, and the art looks to be similar to Riviera’s, but with more action and exaggeration.

This one’s out in fall 2006. I’m there.

Contact - This is the kind of game that I love looking forward to. Early art featured a cool-looking main character in many outfits, implying a lot of different things to do. The game itself sounds fresh and experimental. However, reviews and chatter have called this a slight letdown. I’m definitely going to get it, since I tend to love experimental games that get mixed reviews. Time will tell whether the reviews are mixed or just call it mediocre.

GameStop says this will be out in September, but Play-Asia lists the US version for July. Atlus’ page says nothing! I have it on reserve anyway, so I’ll know when it’s coming.

Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana - This one isn’t new, but I recently picked a copy up. I haven’t had the chance to play it yet. I mention it now because I wanted to a long time ago, but I was waiting for a cheap used copy. The art for it looks inspiring and mysterious, especially the test-tube logo and the main character’s outfit. These are the things I look at, folks. The sequel, which was just out this month, looks like it’s nowhere near as inspired and probably falls flat at it’s predecessor’s heels. The art’s more generic and seems to only be interested in looking “cute.” Which isn’t bad, but it’s flat.

I’m sure I’ll write more on Atelier as I play it.

Conclusion! My GB Micro is going to get a lot of action again. I recently sent it off for repairs (my own fault, don’t ask), but it’ll be back in time for Summon Night.

I took a trip yesterday to the Japanese Garden in Fort Worth to celebrate the last day I have before returning to work. It was hot but breezy, and it was pretty and green. Aside from the signs saying to stay on the paths and the slow sightseers, it’s a pretty nice place to run around.

I’ve missed the sakura festival there for the past 18 years (living here since i was 8), so I’m marking my calendar now for next spring. Next time there’s rain in the forecast, I’ll be getting there quick. I’ll also have to go back in the fall and the winter. It’s unbelievably picturesque, but I’ve only been there in summer (which takes up about 6 months of the year here), and I need a better variety of pictures of the place.

Speaking of pictures, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to get a good digital SLR camera. I’m looking at the Nikon D50 right now, which means that I’ll need over $600. After paying for tuition, I might be able to swing it. Of course, the Wii is going to come out at some point and that might ruin my plans, depending on how my other summer job works out. (right now, it’s not.)

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I used to play a lot of RPGs. In the 32-bit days, that was all I could stand. They took forever to play, were deep and involved, and the simplistic style of many of them made the harsh ugly reality of early 3-D easier to take. The long journey was over after 20 to 40 hours of gameplay, and I seldom played again. Finishing a game was touching and rewarding and generally warm and fuzzy.

Often, there was a long wait until the next RPG would come out, and I’d find something more constructive to do with my time. I remember learning to play guitar when there was nothing good out for the Saturn. There was always time to finish a game when there were so few that I was interested in.

Now though, I hardly have time to play something through to completion. I would get enough out of a game, maybe play up until near then ending, then stop. I knew how the game would end. Games are seldom complex as movies: even with a few plot twists, games usually have happy endings. Finishing what you start isn’t completely necessary.

However.

I have finished a lot of games since the semester let out. A few of them were ones that I would have been fine never playing again, since I had consumed the right amount of experience from them and was ready to move on.
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I finally finished Phoenix Wright today. It’s been a long time, and that last case took forever with all its twists and turns. It’s one of the best video game experiences ever.

What’s weird is that Phoenix Wright is barely a video game at all. It has maybe one element: the limit of five penalties in a trial. Other than that, there’s no way to ‘lose’ at it. It’s basically a book with a touch screen. Right? The wrong decisions lead to the right decisions with little to no consequence, most of the game is reading, and it dosen’t even have “Choose Your Own Adventure”-type narrative paths.

I think that what makes it so successful as a game is the way it puts you in the main character’s persona. Sure, you might know what “the right answer” is when a question is asked and two or three choices appear on the screen. But if the game is done right, you want to choose the correct answer. The correct answer is something you’ve been dying to say for so long and now’s your chance. You touch the answer with an assertive stab of the stylus.

To bring about that kind of conviction in the player, the game must have a really compelling narrative. Not just what happens, but how it is told. The details in Phoenix Wright’s cases play themselves out in maddeningly small bits. But the player dosen’t know what’s going to happen next.

An interestingly lighthearted cast of characters drawn onto very serious scenarios make the game have a surreal, but grounded kind of realism. None of this stuff would happen in a real courtroom, but the game makes me believe that it did.

To compare to the other DS adventure game, Phoenix may have even less action than Another Code, but it’s just as worthy of your time. Heck, they’re both really great in terms of storyline, and I would give AC the Best Story award if I had one, but I think PW is the better video game.

I’m really liking this genre again, as long as the games can keep asserting that they’re not just pixelated novels. Here’s to the rest of the PW series, to Hotel Dusk and that one detective game that Atlus is bringing over.

I’ve built up a big ol’ backlog of games to play, thanks to extra money plus a semester of full-on work and school action. But I’m slowly getting to it all.

The most forgotten are the free indie games that I should have been playing all along.

So, in the spirit of my unintentionally intentional pretentious post title, here’s a few indie games that I hope to get to. Not that I actually will, probably. I mean, New Super Mario Bros. comes out today. Seriously. And anytime I try to actually play something on my computer, I end up playing Cave Story again. Without further making an ass of myself, here are three that I haven’t tried yet:

Lyle in Cube Sector is a block-throwing action/adventure game! It’s been called a cross between Mario 2 and Metroid, and is rendered in dark ’80s psychedelic pixels mixed with a little Invader Zim.

Invader is a mysterious game designed by the equally mysterious dessgeega, whom I secretly admire from afar thanks to her excellent taste in games and militant decapitalization. I need to play this one ASAP, so I can at least say something constructive about it.

Within a Deep Forest is kind of a bouncy seiklus, except much more than that.

If you’re a complete retard with keyboard controls, get a pad and JoyToKey to make your life easier!

As pr0 said so distinctively, E3 is a pain in the butt because everything they’re showing won’t be out until this holiday season or later. If at all. In the meantime, you should go play old games. That’s what I’m about to do, before I have to get my study on for my behavioral neuroscience final. I think E3 came on the week after finals last semester, so I had nothing to do but sit around and refresh 4CR for news.

All in all, Nintendo’s lineup is mostly old series. It’s a little bit disappointing, but a logical move from a company that’s taking a big risk in the console department. You will need familiar games to keep the cash coming in. The DS seems to have the most rehashes/continuations though. The new stuff for Wii looks pretty interesting.

Here’s some DS stuff that looks cool.
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I have been under an unbelievable amount of stress lately. The end of the semester is always like this, but I’ve never had a 10-hour-a-day job while going through it. Thankfully, that ended yesterday, and I’ve resolved to spent this weekend studying for finals and writing my term paper.

However, that went out the window. I spent the past couple days feeling sick, and when I was feeling better this morning, I ended up having to go into work to make some final adjustments to the last issue. I felt sick all over again.

As soon as I got out, I headed to 7-11. Then to GameStop to pick up LostMagic. It was going to be my semester-parting buy, only to be purchased when I had completed finals. Well, screw that.

LM is an RTS-RPG, and it’s wifi-able. You’ve probably heard about the “draw runes to make spells” gimmick, but it actually works well. I like that developers are looking for new ways to do RPG things instead of the old standard “select it from a menu” system.

Also, dragging the stylus draws a bubble on the map that lets you select multiple troops. This is very much a kind of “mouse interface translated to DS” kind of thing. Like Metroid Prime Hunters, it uses the touch screen to approximate a mouse. It seems to work well here.

I also put a reserve down on New Super Mario Bros., an name that is sure to not age well. But whatever. And I showed off my DS Lite to the GameStop cashieress when she asked if I’d like to preorder a DS Lite.

I am enjoying LM so far. I’m just starting to get into some exciting fights, and it looks like that’s where this game’s strengths are. I plan to spend this weekend playing this and watching the Excel Saga boxed set that a friend got for his birthday.

At least I have Monday off to work on that paper. Ohhhh, hohohohohoho.