Tag Archives: Video Games

Sep 23 2007
Life in general

LocoRoco Cocoreccho

I bought LocoRoco Cocoreccho (the ps3 sequel to the very popular LocoRoco, for the Playstation Portable) last Thursday, when it came out on the Playstation Store. I have been playing it during almost all of my free time since then. It’s just that fun.

When I originally heard about it (in rumor form), I was extremely excited, since LocoRoco is so damn fun. You use the shoulder buttons on the PSP to tilt the whole world, and roll the LocoRoco’s along, picking up more as you go. Great gameplay, and on the PS3 it would be even more fun, since you could use the SIXAXIS motion sensors to tilt the world instead of buttons.

Then I found out that the game would be more of a screensaver than a game. I had really no idea what this meant, and ultimately it’s total bull. This is a real game, not a screensaver. But I also found out that the feature I was so excited about, the motion-controlled world tilting, was not actually a part of the game. Instead, you control a butterfly (using the joysticks), whom the LocoRoco’s follow. The SIXAXIS sensors are used, but just for tilting ramps, spinning wheels, pulling objects, and otherwise manipulating the scenery. A bit disappointing, but after actually playing the game, it is still insanely fun and addicting.

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Sep 19 2007
Life in general

Uru Live Season Finale: Exodus

“Exodus” (beginning in mid-October)

“Destruction is coming. Find a way. Make a home.”

The words have been repeated many times. Even while the restoration effort begun again and with the release of new Ages, the words were always said. With the resurrection of the D’ni city, the Guilds, the DRC, and new life filling the cavern again, the words continued to hang in the air above the orange waters.

What do they mean?

While many questions have been answered, there are more that remain. What effect will Cate have on the restoration now that the members of the original restoration team have returned? Where will the Bahro war take us? Is the one who originally spoke the words finished with her part in this grand story?

With the release of the new Age of Ahnonay as well as K’veer Island and Myst Island, there will be changes.

Woah. That right there is a description of Episode 9 of Uru Live, the season finale entitled “Exodus”. Check out that last line again. Ahnonay, K’veer, and Myst. Jeebus. That’s a lot of stuff. Plus these foretold changes, and the not-so-subtle hinting at Yeesha’s return, this is going to be one helluva finale.

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Sep 04 2007
Uncategorized

New TV!

I went out and bought an Element 32″ FLX-3210 HDTV. Why did I choose that one? It was cheap. Hooray! $499 when I got it, thanks to Labor Day sales. And thank goodness I decided on this one instead of the one I was originally going to get, because I compared them in-store, and the Ölevia’s quality was terrible.

So here’s my review of the FLX-3210. Keep in mind that I have little to no experience whatsoever with HDTV’s, and no actual HD content to watch on it yet (HDMI cable for the ps3 is in the mail).

Setup:
Setup was very simple, just four screws to keep the stand onto the display (which came in two of the larges pieces of Styrofoam packaging I’ve ever seen). The menus are extremely simple and easy to navigate. Great.

Picture Quality:
The TV is 768p (1360×768), though advertised as 720p, because 768p is not an American standard (being a PAL resolution), so i guess 720p images will be scaled up a bit to fit. I’ll find out when I get my HDMI cable.

The color is amazing, the 1200:1 contrast ration is awesome, blacks are pretty black, whites are extremely bright. There’s no ghosting or anything, the picture is all-around “super”, especially considering the low pricetag.

Sound Quality
However, it’s pretty obvious why Element can afford to make such inexpensive TV’s without losing image quality. The speakers on this box are not the best I’ve ever heard, not by far. They’re somewhat tinny and have an almost complete lack of bass. I’d call the out-of-the-box sound quality “passable”.

However, after some tweaking of the settings (turning off the simulated surround sound helped a ton, as did turning up the bass), I’d give the speakers a solid “decent”.

Other Factors
Inputs: It as 2 composites, 1 RCA component (which I’m using for the ps3 right now), 1 HDMI, 1 S-video, 1 vga (which I hooked my computer up to for some awesome iTunes visualizations action), and maybe some others 😛 In short, a ton of connections. Great 🙂
Remote: Nothing special. Decent.

Overall: Great 😀

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Sep 04 2007
Uncategorized

New TV!

I went out and bought an Element 32″ FLX-3210 HDTV. Why did I choose that one? It was cheap. Hooray! $499 when I got it, thanks to Labor Day sales. And thank goodness I decided on this one instead of the one I was originally going to get, because I compared them in-store, and the Ölevia’s quality was terrible.

So here’s my review of the FLX-3210. Keep in mind that I have little to no experience whatsoever with HDTV’s, and no actual HD content to watch on it yet (HDMI cable for the ps3 is in the mail).

Setup:
Setup was very simple, just four screws to keep the stand onto the display (which came in two of the larges pieces of Styrofoam packaging I’ve ever seen). The menus are extremely simple and easy to navigate. Great.

Picture Quality:
The TV is 768p (1360×768), though advertised as 720p, because 768p is not an American standard (being a PAL resolution), so i guess 720p images will be scaled up a bit to fit. I’ll find out when I get my HDMI cable.

The color is amazing, the 1200:1 contrast ration is awesome, blacks are pretty black, whites are extremely bright. There’s no ghosting or anything, the picture is all-around “super”, especially considering the low pricetag.

Sound Quality
However, it’s pretty obvious why Element can afford to make such inexpensive TV’s without losing image quality. The speakers on this box are not the best I’ve ever heard, not by far. They’re somewhat tinny and have an almost complete lack of bass. I’d call the out-of-the-box sound quality “passable”.

However, after some tweaking of the settings (turning off the simulated surround sound helped a ton, as did turning up the bass), I’d give the speakers a solid “decent”.

Other Factors
Inputs: It as 2 composites, 1 RCA component (which I’m using for the ps3 right now), 1 HDMI, 1 S-video, 1 vga (which I hooked my computer up to for some awesome iTunes visualizations action), and maybe some others 😛 In short, a ton of connections. Great 🙂
Remote: Nothing special. Decent.

Overall: Great 😀

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Aug 29 2007
Life in general

OMFG SAM AND MAX 2 TRAILER

I just stumbled upon The Sam & Max Season 2 Trailer, which looks totally awesome. It has really great pre-rendered graphics, even though the actual game will look only slightly better than the original season :P…Still, the Presidential Puppet is there, as well as a Sombrero-wearing villain-type, a silhouetted murderer, and a giant robot.

All of the side characters appear in the trailer, Sybil on a date with Abe, Bosco in a strangely red inconvenience store, and Jimmy Two-Teeth (not to mention our intrepid heroes, Sam and Max). Sybil’s sign has not been updated, and still lists ‘Queen’ as the latest job. Oh well, there’s some explanation.

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Aug 20 2007
Uncategorized

Ps3 Demos

Since I don’t have any games yet, I’ve just been playing around with the Playstation game demos. So far I’ve tryed out Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, DiRT, and Gran Turismo HD. My favorite is definitely Motorstorm (so much, in fact, that I have ordered it already), with DiRT in second. They are both highly realistic racing games, Motorstorm being more desert-centric and DiRT being more about general racing. I’ve posted videos of Motorstorm before, so I won’t go into too much detail, but its basically a racing game that takes place along the top of a canyon (or at least, the demo level does…I have never seen another level…), and has pretty spectacular explosions when you crash or use the boost to get through for too long and it overheats.

DiRT, on the other hand, is insanely realistic, and not just graphics-wise. There are no boosts in DiRT, and both the car and environments take realistic damage with every collision. And again, the damage isn’t just graphical. Take too many impacts to one side of your car, and it starts to slow down and drift in one direction. Take way too many collisions, or enough ones at high speed, and your car stops working completely, causing you to forfeit the race. It’s all very impressive, but Motorstorm is just more fun. 😛

Heavenly Sword is cool, it plays like Soul Calibur, but with multiple opponents. Graphically? Amazing. Stunning, really. I might get it…who knows?

All in all, I’m very happy with the purchase 🙂

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Aug 19 2007
Life in general

Ps3

I just bought a Playstation 3.

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Aug 09 2007
2 Comments
Life in general

What to Buy…

A while (like, may last year), I posted What Mac? In which I discussed all my options for buying my next computer (sorry all the images are broken…and probably the links too…oh well…). Anyway, I’m going to do the same thing now, since I’ve been thinking about it a lot since the iMac came out. So here we go.

  • A Kickass 24″ iMac

Pros
*Great computer for relatively low cost ($2000)
*Can replace Eve (when Eve needs replacing)

Cons
*Don’t have nearly enough money yet, I’d have to save almost all the money I get for a year and get a job to be able to have this by 2009…

  • Playstation 3

    Pros
    *Really advanced system, should be great for a long time (I’m still happily using my ps2…)
    *LittleBigPlanet
    *I can actually afford it at the moment (but just barely, another month or two for a game and a second controller ;))

    Cons
    *Only one game I’m really looking forward to, but plenty of other’s I’ll enjoy
    *Can’t afford any games yet 😛
    *No HDTV to play it on, I can hook it up to my monitor but then I have no sound…The TV is another $500 if I shop right…

  • Nintendo Wii

    Pros
    *Love using it. The controller is fun 🙂
    *Fun hacks with the controller and a computer
    *Some fun games coming out later in the year
    *Wii Sports counts as exercise 😀
    *Have a lot of money left over for games/controllers

    Cons
    *I already know 2 really close friends with Wiis, and I can use theirs whenever I want…
    *Barely any good games out right now…Boredom until something good comes out
    *Underpowered
    *Hard to get…
    *Lack of HDTV (See ps3 cons)

  • Something else?
  • Nintendo DS – play Myst DS when it comes out, Pokemon now…nothing else though
  • iPhone? 😀
  • Upgrade Eve? (More RAM, bigger/faster HD)
  • Something other than else?

    • Please advise me! 😀

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    Jul 24 2007
    2 Comments
    Life in general

    Alas Poor E3, I Knew Him…

    For any gamer in the world, E3 was the place to be every year when it rolled around. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, an annual convention/tradeshow for everyone in the gaming industry; from the little 3rd party developers, to the massive players (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft). I remember planning how to get to California, trying to raise the money for a plane ticket, pining away as the date came and left, with me sitting in front of my computer reading about the awesomeness. The gigantic “booths”, the playable demos of games and even consoles never before seen and played by anyone.

    Last year’s attendance? 60,000 people. And that was down 10,000 from 05. First-time playables of the Wii and PS3, not to mention the 360.

    Why am I going on and on about how huge and good E3 was (and yes, I mean was there)?

    Because after last year’s convention, the ESA (Entertainment Software Administration, the group that runs E3) decided to kill it. And it was not a kind, euthanasia-style death. No, the ESA decided to change E3. It would be press-only, and the booths would be much,much smaller. Small enough that it could all fit inside a small hangar. And the press conferences? Microsoft’s was held in a school theater.

    Attendance this year? Around 4000. Only 32 companies had booths, from 400 last year.

    Even the name is different, E3 Media and Business Summit. Eugh.

    ESA, you make me sick. Oh well, there are still other conventions to wish I could be at (yes, that’s right. A convention focused on a webcomic has surpassed E3).

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    Jul 19 2007
    Uncategorized

    Myst V on Intel Part Trois

    Well, I had a craving to play Myst V again, after listening to the soundtrack a bit. This time around, the installer worked smoothly (if slowly, due to it running in rosetta mode), as opposed to Last Time…

    The game itself ran much better than the first time, there have probably been some rosetta optimizations since 10.4.4 or whatever it was I was originally using. I ran at 1280×800 (1680×1050 caused too much lag to be usable, and 1440×900 didn’t work for some reason…) with low video and texture quality, and no shadows. Anti-aliasing I sometimes had up and sometimes down. For some reason, the tunnels showed absolutely no lag on full specs, but Laki was unbearable….Well, at least I got to play through it again 🙂

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