Games on Nanikore

RRoDeathed

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:28:34 +0000

Well, it had to come I suppose. The Xbox 360 I bought in late February 2007 finally Red Ring of Death’d tonight. Actually, it’s been crashing a bit over the last week, but tonight, it’s totally d.e.a.d. or rather RRoDeathed. (Note the second image is a Flickr! video.)

I’ll call them up tonight and see if I can get it replaced before my copy of Dead Space arrives.

City of Heroes, no more.

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:01:47 +0000

Just a short post on this - after three and a half years, I’ve finally unsubscribed to the MMORPG City of Heroes’ a grinding level game. I only made it to level 32 with my top character.

alt=“City of Heroes - Obaka lives (but not soon)” caption=“City of Heroes - Obaka lives (but not soon)”

Don’t misunderstand; I think it’s a great game, and would encourage people to go and try it out, whether or not you’re of the super hero inclination. It looks nice, plays well, and most of the other people online are fairly civil and accommodating, which is an absolute revelation after years of playing Counter Strike. Part of my problem has always been that being here in Japan, the population density in my evening was low, as the roaring lion’s share of players are in North America and to a lesser extent, Europe. That means that picking up teams or even partners for missions wasn’t easy when I was on, except at the weekend, which has increasingly become family time.

I would say I really enjoyed it for the first two and a bit years, then I would only play a bit now and again, and last month I just decided to cut my losses, or at least my subscription fee, and cancel it. I had about six characters I would play with because I was more into trying out all the different powers than advancing much higher. Ultimately, in 42 months, I burned 544 hours on it. For stats freaks, and as an example, I clocked up only 18 hours in the last year. Still, that’s an absurd amount of time when I think about it.

So that’s where I am. I won’t be going to WoW, or EVE or any other pay as you go game per se, I’ll be spending what little gaming time I have on shorter term completion projects like console games, solo or co-op, and the odd DS game.

alt=“City of Heroes brawl” caption=“City of Heroes brawl”

Playstation Three (Shhhh)

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:01:23 +0000

OK, now despite saying a lot that I wouldn’t get all three consoles for this generation (hey, the Wii is my wife’s!) I decided to get one of the ’new’ 40GB Playstation 3 was when I got that back in February. To be honest though, the thing that tipped me over the edge was that I managed to buy it all on points, saved on purchases from Bic Camera over the last two years. Had I not had them, it’d still be on the shelf.

Initial impression: very happy. I bought it with Ratchet and Clank Future, which is a beautiful and fun game. The machine build quality is great - far, far better than the noisy 360, and it has a built in PSU, unlike the enormous gray brick the 360 comes with. The cross bar interface is OK, I personally prefer the MS blades, as I think XMB shows too much info when you’re looking for a specific game function; it seems to need some kind ‘simple’ mode to let people get to the important bits first.

As for controllers, the in-box Sixaxis is rubbish. Really. It’s too light, small, no rumble. R&C tries some six axis mini-games almost apologetically. They’re dull. Compared to the Wii, it’s laughable. Once you try the DualShock 3, things feel better, and the rechargeable-via-USB Sony uses is a nice touch, but overall, the 360 has the best in hand controller of the two.

Overall, the PS3 so far feels like a well made, classy home appliance. The 360 feels like a great games system. The jury is out on a winner, but as I have both, I hope I can get the best of both worlds.

Finished: Bioshock

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 14:58:36 +0000

I finally finished Bioshock; well one of the endings. It was fantastic - definitely worth the time and effort. I played the nice guy and rescued all the Little Sisters. See? I’m not as bad as people would have you believe.

Despite a small amount of grind, this really is a magnificently designed game, where the story keeps you going as much as the action, and there’s just enough twists to keep each level interesting.

I think this is more of a shooter than the strategy 2K were pushing, but that doesn’t detract from the game itself, which looks beautiful, sounds really quite disturbing, and reminds you that not all first person shooters these days are generic. Each level has a slightly different feel to it, with only one of them - Proving Grounds - to be on rails. The rest you’re pretty free to wander, and splicer spawn points don’t feel too orchestrated. The voice acting is excellent too, and there’s some very nice set pieces, and some nice voice diaries next to set up rooms. The water effects truly were excellent all the way through, but so was the fire, and even the electrical bolts didn’t look too cheesy. This has definitely been the best looking game on the 360 for me so far. Even better than Gears of War.

It’s a shame there wasn’t any multi-player, as the level design is very tight, but since the single player goes on for about twenty hours, you wont regret the outlay in time or money. Maybe the designers felt that multi-player would’ve diluted the mythology of the game itself.

Bye Bye Mr. Bubbles.

Bioshock[ed]

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:10:30 +0000

I’ve been playing Bioshock on the 360 for the last few days, and yes, it is ‘just a shooter’, but the style of it is very well executed - an alternate reality 1950s gone amok with DNA splicing at the bottom of the ocean, in Rapture. Truly I am Bioshock[ed]. Sry.

Perhaps somewhat steampunk; the sound effects, voice acting and everything are superb, better than the graphics for impact.

That said the water effects are very impressive if a little uneven - for every impressive cascading torrent of water down a staircase, there’s a rather dull looking ‘wave’ effect through some of the windows. Anyway, I’m about three hours into it and we’ll see if they’ve managed to keep it as taught till the end. I’m kind of hoping to see Cthulu in the last level as some kind of demented boss, but maybe not.

Parallels may be drawn to games such as FEAR, but this takes it much further than that game, which I found a rather overrated, one trick pony. Still the two games, on the PC at least, share the loathsome SecuROM system of copy protection.

Japan's World Cup 2006

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 02:14:03 +0000

As they undoubtedly prepare to come home, a few people will be asking, ’ What went wrong?’ In a group where on paper they could get through, they finished bottom, didn’t win a game, and earned the distinction of conceding the most goals in the last seven minutes of a world cup game - that was Japan’s World Cup 2006?

They might have gone under the banner of the Samurai Blue (as far as I know, that colour is pure marketing), but their strikers were more like sleeping ninjas - we barely saw them. When they did get in front of goal they were hesitant or obsessed with passing, not seeming to want be the one who missed the shot.

In most games it was left to others, notably Hidetoshi Nakata to drive in shots from a distance, obviously in frustration at his team mates inability to even let loose an attempt on goal. That shouldn’t detract from Tamada’s goal against Brazil, which was a well taken opportunity, but was by far the exception - Nakamura’s goal against Australia was messy at best.

So what will change? Well Zico has left (thankfully) and now Japanese football has to assess where to go with their next manager. I’m hoping for one more like Troussier, than Zico.

Zico’s excuses post game and criticism of his own team didn’t seem to do anything to anything to make people feel better, or even like him, especially when his comments didn’t seem to gel with the opinions of his players, or with anyone who watched the game.

I’ll never forget Nakata and Zico’s completely different press interviews following the Croatia game; Zico claimed the evil TV companies made them play in 30+ degree heat (it’s that in Japan right now), whereas Nakata made the outrageous claim that Japan just didn’t play well enough.

The only good thing is that I wont have to listen to any more absurdly nationalistic NHK commentary by commentators who apparently don’t understand all the rules of football, or at least they need to re-read the rules about offside. The bad thing is that now Japan are out, coverage will drop, and I’ll be back to listening to Radio 5 Live, or pay for cable!

I would say Japan’s best player was again Hide Nakata, and though it pains me to say so, Kawaguchi played far better than I expected, but I would really like to see him learn to catch the ball.

However, for a more informed view of Japan’s 2006 performance, check out the FootallJapan Blog.

Japan 1- 4 Brazil, and out.

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 01:39:12 +0000

So the World Cup 2006 adventure is over for the boys in Samurai Blue - Japan 1- 4 Brazil, and out.

What can be said? Well, Tamada scored Japan’s best World Cup goal in the 33rd minute against a fairly lethargic looking Brazilian team.

However, that goal seemed to wake them up, and they spent the rest of the game very artfully putting four goals past Japan. For many though, on the night and certainly in the Japanese media since, the enduring image has been of Japan’s hardest working player, Hidetoshi Nakata, laying down in the centre circle, swapped Brazilian shirt over his eyes presumably crying.

To be honest, you can’t blame him; both in talent and work ethic he’s head and shoulders above his team mates, and this third World Cup may be his last.

Japan 0 - 0 Croatia

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:30:43 +0000

Well, after a fairly even game, both team got points. Japan’s hero turned out to be goalkeeper Kawaguchi. I’ve never been much of a fan of his, as he rarely seems to catch the ball, preferring a more dramatic, but less practical punching style but perhaps due to him, it ended Japan 0 - 0 Croatia.

That said, he did deflect Coatia’s first half penalty and made some decent *catches* during the game. Japan’s best outfielder was probably long serving Hidetoshi Nakata, though his after match interviews seemed to show a lot of his frustration, not helped by his Coach’s insistence that the weather was detracting from Japan’s ability to play - an odd defence given Japan’s usual early summer temperature, and something Nakata denied.

Ultimately though, the nil scoreline reflected both side’s inability to finish, Croatia’s via inaccuracy, Japan’s purely through hesitation, though as with their previous game, they showed they could push the ball around well. Here’s to a good final game against Brazil - if they’re going to go out, go out in style!

MetalGearSolid vs. Space Invaders

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 13:06:42 +0000

We were wandering through Bic Camera 3 game which has been doing the rounds since E3. Of course, many customers looked, then wandered past to the games section. I wonder how many Japanese will shell out over 60,000yen for the basic Playstation 3?

Japan 1 - 3 Australia

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 12:44:16 +0000

There were a lot of long faces on the buses this morning, as the result the morning after the first of Japan’s World Cup 2006 games hit home, and it didn’t taste too good.

Despite going ahead in the 26th minute from a Nakamura goal, Japan conceded 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of the game. BBC did a decent review here.

I think most people agreed, including Japan coach Zico that Japan just seemed to step down a gear after that first goal, and the Australians just kept going. The team looked far too confident - over confident in fact.

Truthfully, Japan played better football overall, but the bottom line is the number balls over the line, and Australia deserved something for their positive attitude to the final whistle. Most worrying was that after the equaliser Japan just seemed to fall apart. Next up is Croatia for Japan, and I hope Zico (who I don’t rate much as a coach for Japan) can pull the team up.

Oh yes, and in front of goal the Japanese strikers need to go a bit more on gut instinct; some of their failed attacks faltered as strikers passed the ball between themselves endlessly as Australia’s defences regrouped and robbed them of possession. I half expected them to break out into a janken game at one point to see who would shoot.

Finished: Me and My Katamari

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 02:58:39 +0000

In my continuing obsession with Namco’s Katamari Damacy game, I’ve finished the PSP version of the game “Me and my Katamari” (僕の私の塊魂 / Boku no Watashi no Katamari Damashii). The end sequence was quite nice, with an ‘8 bit’ version of the game, as a side scroller as the credits run past. Very nice. Fear not though, there are still 2 gifts I need to collect from a couple of levels, and two songs to unlock. On the last level I even managed to roll the King and Queen into my Katamari!

Aside from the very quirky game play and characters, the music is also some of the best songs I’ve heard in a game; no cheap remixes like EA often use, these are all well themed pieces. I was disappointed this game got a lot of 7/10 reviews as I thought it added even to the PS2 Katamari Damacy game, allowing you to go indoors on outdoor levels and do a few things you couldn’t before. I sometimes wonder if living in Japan has benefits for this type of game because so many objects, sound effects are Japanese, and without knowing the context, maybe it lessens the scope. Just a thought.

It’s also really well designed as a portable game, with some later levels split into for or five sub levels of five minutes, with different weather effects thrown in. You can also name your own island, and even change how the prince looks - personally, I had him with the dragon hat and the Queen’s pink roller head…but I digress.

Anyway, now time to move on to the PS2 Katamari sequel “We love Katamari” (みんな大好き塊魂 / ‘Minna Daisuki Katamari’ which I guess is closer to ‘Everyone really likes katamari damacy’).

By the way, for those who don’t know (looking at you NA), 8-bit computers describe the technology of the early to mid-1980’s. As in, my PC has an Athlon 64, it’s a 64bit data path in the CPU, so the Atari ST was 16-bit, and before that the Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64 (and Nintendo Famicon I believe) were 8-bit.

Thanks also to my aforementioned gamer wife for pointing out the kanji 「塊魂」for ‘Katamari Damacy’ is entered as ‘katamari’ ‘塊’ and tamashii ‘魂’. Which is why I was struggling to enter it.

Finished: Katamari Damacy

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 04:18:34 +0000

I just finished Katama r i Damacy on the PS2 [ English link] which a friend [LH] lent me a month or two ago. It’s a great little game, and since it’s been out a while, you might be able to pick it up cheap. Basically, you roll a ball around a home, then town, then country then world, picking up objects, which as your ball gets bigger, means you can pick up bigger objects. On each level, you have to achieve a certain size in a set time, or pick up a certain number of types of objects to complete the level.

The game itself is made in a very funky style with great tunes, weird sound effects, and a bizarre cartoon story between each level. It’s definitely a game you can burn a few hours away with on a rainy afternoon. Though not a very long game in itself, it as a lot of fun to go from rolling small erasers and such on the first level, to rolling Fuji-san and Godzilla in the last level to make a new moon.

Fortunately, last month Namco released the sequel " Minna Daisuki Katamari" (English title is" We love Katamari") which I’ve already bought, so now it’s time to get stuck into that!

Finished: Half Life 2 - Lost Coast*

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 02:10:21 +0000

The best thing about asterisks [*] in titles is that they convey this: ‘There’s something else you need to know about this statement which will probably lessen the impact and therefore we want to hide it away at the bottom of the page in a tiny font, which you either wont go looking for, or wont find’. So, in that theme, here’s the caveat for those who don’t know, Half Life 2 - The Lost Coast is a single level, and more than that, it’s a technology demo to boot, in this case, for Valve’s implementation of High Dynamic Range (HDR) lighting effects.

I say their implementation, because other game engines have done it differently. Bit-Tech did a nice summary of the Valve system, and why it’s different to say, Far Cry here. Basically, HDR makes bright things look brighter, adds contrast, and gives you that ‘blinded’ feeling when you do from a dark to light area, which of course in me provokes random gun fire in all directions, which I think is a left over from playing too much Counter Strike.

Tech bits aside, it’s just a level, and a short one at that. After I stopped playing with the HDR and looking around, you can finish the level in about 30 mins. Seriously, there’s not much to it, it’s a fairly straight HL2 level-ette. Where it does score is via it’s HDR as you might expect, the church at the top of the cliff looks amazing inside, really nice. One other interesting feature though is that in the options panel for the level, you can select ‘commentary’ and when you start the game, there are several small speech bubbles dotted around which you can activate and listen to one of the design team explaining how and why they did things the way they did. I have to say that I quite like this, kind of like the director’s commentary on a DVD. You should definitely try this after you finish the level, but it is pretty funny shooting Combine troops through little which spinning speech bubbles.

OK, so given my enormous lack of gaming talent, I’m claiming this as my first ‘finish’ of 2006. Lost Coast will also pave the way not just for HDR on the Steam engine, but also for Valve’s ’episodic’ release of chapters extending HL2, paid for and distributed via Steam - not full games, but chapters. The first of these will be ‘Aftermath’, and though I don’t know how much it’ll cost, I’m already wondering whether I’ll be buying into this system.

Palm Space Trader

Sat, 07 Jan 2006 06:17:42 +0000

In these days of PSPs, Nintendo DSs and all that, it says something that my favourite portable game right now is on my Palm. I’ve been playing Space Trader on and off for about 3 years. It’s just what it says it is: a space trading game for the Palm where you have skill scores and buy sell, fight and flee around a galaxy trying to get as much cash as you can to retire. Just a note then that it’s been updated to version 1.2.2, which since I’m running the three year old version 1.2, I’ll be upgrading to. The news page for the game is here.

My tip: don’t get the tribbles. They’re a pain in the neck to get rid of although it’s a great Star Trek in joke.

Palm Space Trader

PSP vs. DS (Part 1 of many)

Thu, 30 Dec 2004 16:52:08 +0000

I’ve been kind of avoiding this topic as the office has been buzzing with it for weeks.

I’ve played with both for a couple of hours each, and as many have pointed out, they’re both great, but for wildly different reasons.

The PSP has a great single screen, and is virtually a portable PS2, it’s only drawback being a weak battery, but it’s swappable, so that’s not too bad. Video playback on my friend’s PSP he downloaded to MS looked good, but where is the ability to record to the UMD, or connect to the web via Wi-Fi?

The DS, despite it’s wrong-headed ‘Game and Watch’ (too old to catch many I suspect) design has 2 screens, one being the touch screen, which is gagging for RPGs and some dodgy mahjong games. Also, an oft overlooked feature of the DS is that it can hold a GBA and a DS game at once, so effectively having 2 games in there to play at any time - that’s a lot of Zelda.

Personally, I judge a console by games, not spec, and so far there’s nothing I want right now - Ridge Racers bored me in handheld format after about 10 minutes just like every other version of it. Same goes on the DS … Mario 64, great. I finished that on the 64 and learned hiragana in the process.

In summary, I’m waiting to see what new games come out, and how each company tweaks their hardwares’ feature set. I think the PSP has the sex appeal, but the DS is just so odd, it might pull out the more interesting games, after all, a great home game may not make a great mobile game.

As for Microsoft, the X-Pod will be out next week, dual Pentium 4 with er…40gb hard drive built in, ATI X800XT graphics and er…a gig of RAM but if you buy another mobile console before then you can’t buy an X-Pod. They’ll be designing this to look like a novelty VCR too.

Taiko no Tatsujin

Sun, 04 Jan 2004 04:39:15 +0000

One game I picked up for us this Xmas for the Playstation 2 was ’ Taiko no Tatsujin’ (Taiko Drum Master), which is a simple game, set in a summer festival scene, where 1 or 2 players bang the plastic drums in sync with symbols scrolling across the screen. It comes with a variety of tunes, from folk (enka) to J-Pop and some hard hitting punk. It’s a lot of fun.

Just saw this: Taiko no tatsujin merchandise. If you buy any, let me know if it’s any good. The game link is here. Looking at Namco’s site, it doesn’t seem to be available outside Japan. Has anyone seen it elsewhere? It’s a very ‘Japanese’ game, so I’m not sure how well it would fare outside of the Japanophile market.. Shame though - if you can get the game and the drums, get the set.