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Walk It Out / Nintendo Wii : 5 of 5
3.12.2010 7:26 AM \| Link 0 comments	A couple weeks ago I had never heard of this game, until Dad pointed it out to me for a special Amazon price, so I thought I would order it and give it a try, Little did I know that I would soon spend literally hours walking in place in front of my TV, absolutely captivated by one of the most addictive games ever! My favorite game genres are rhythm (like Dance Dance Revolution), fitness, and puzzle, so it's absolutely amazing that Walk It Out incorporates all three. The game play is very simple, since your goal is just to walk around Rhythm Island and help it come to life. As you walk (which can be detected by the Wii using the nunchuk, the DDR dance pad, or even the Wii Balance Board) you collect chips by stepping in time with whatever song is playing (and there are over 100 songs with varying tempos to keep things interesting!). All around the island are floating capsules that each have a price, and when you have enough chips you can click on them to unlock something as simple as a palm tree, streetlight, or fire hydrant, or as complex as a cafe, apartment building, or a lighthouse! When you begin the game, the island is almost completely bare, except for thousands of these capsules (and there are literally over 3,000 of them to unlock!), but as you keep playing, the landscape really starts to change, and you begin to realize "Hey, all of these trees are here because I walked 80 steps for each one!" It's a total thrill to see the island grow up around you, and thinking about what I can unlock next really makes me want to come back and play again and again (sometimes multiple times a day, for over an hour at a time)! I could go on and on about the cool surprises in the game, since there are sections of the island you can only reach after unlocking bridges, and it's so nice to see the different environments like the beach, shopping area, and even the ranch with grazing cows. The game also happens in real time, so when you play in the morning you can watch the sunrise, and at night the sky is full of stars! The walking itself is low-impact and doesn't really make me sweat, but I guarantee that marching in place for over 10,000 steps burns more calories than sitting on my butt watching cartoons. I'm committed to continue Walk It Out until I unlock every single thing, but now I have to find time to keep up with my other fitness games! Labels: games, wii
EA Sports Active / Nintendo Wii : 5 of 5
3.02.2010 7:08 AM \| Link 0 comments	Several years ago when all my fitness games where PS2-based, I used to really enjoy Yourself!Fitness, since it led me through a series of exercises that worked out entire different muscles than my DDR marathons did. Although that was a great game, it essentially was just a workout video generator, since the PS2 has no way of knowing if you were actually doing the exercises. Now with EA Sports Active and clever use of the Wiimote and nunchuk, I can get a great workout with feedback that helps me do the exercises correctly! I've had this great game since Christmas, but I waited a while to start playing since I was re-addicted to DDR, but now I'm well on my way through the 30-Day Challenge, which is a series of workouts that are designed to work your whole body over a month period. The game comes with two pieces of equipment: a resistance band for arm exercises, and a well-made leg strap that holds the nunchuk (so the game can measure accurate leg movement). Both of these items take some getting used to, but eventually it becomes easier to keep the strap in the right place and hold the resistance band correctly. The exercises do a great job of combining stuff I would never otherwise do (like squats, lunges and various lifts) with fun sports activities like running, inline skating (with cool jumps that totally kill my legs), boxing, tennis, basketball (I love making jump shots), and many more I haven't even experienced yet! Every single activity has a nice live-action instructional video that shows someone doing the exercise with the Wii equipment, which is great since details like Wiimote orientation are often important. While you workout, there are helpful displays of time, calories burned, reps to go, and progress through the routine, and the graphics are pretty cool (with nice details like seeing other areas of the game world pass while you run around the track). The best thing about EA Sports Active is it forces me to work parts of my body that I often ignore by only walking and playing DDR, and my muscles (especially my quads) can really feel it when I finish a routine! I'm looking forward to finishing the 30-Day Challenge (which is going to get more intense, I think), and then continuing my workouts to unlock some more trophies! Labels: games, wii
New dance pad, old games
1.28.2010 12:12 PM \| Link 0 comments	One of my birthday gifts from my parents this year is the latest version of RedOctane's Ignition Dance Pad, which can plug into just about any game console you want, including the Wii and PS2. It's been way over a year since I even turned on my PS2 (in fact, I was considering getting rid of it this year), and I didn't even have a dance pad that would work with it, since all of my old ones had worn out and went in the garbage can. But now I have a single awesome dance pad that I can use with both machines, and I'm really surprised at how much I'm enjoying the old PS2 games! I love playing Endless Mode (I desperately wish the Wii games had this feature), and the older mixes have such great music! Enjoying these older games made me think about my Dance Dance Revolution "career" (I've written about this before, but a brief recap won't hurt!). It all started in 2000 when I saw people playing in an arcade in Japan, soon followed by my first ever attempt at a mall arcade in Oklahoma City, which led to me buying the PS2 just so I could play at home. Soon after that I got a Japanese PSOne so I could buy import mixes (since the US releases were kind of appalling), and started trying different dance pads. I've probably owned five or six different RedOctane pads, including the latest Ignition that I'm using now. Over the years I've tried lots of DDR knock-off games, but nothing can match the feel of the real thing, so I always buy new editions of the game the moment Konami releases them! It's kind of amazing to me that I've been playing DDR around 10 years, and although I sometimes take a break for a few weeks, I always return to it as a form of exercise and general fun. I like the nostalgic feeling I get when I play these PS2 games and hear old songs (I remember spending hours trying to pass Afronova, which I just cleared this morning with no trouble at all), and I'm looking forward to keeping up with new Wii games as well! Labels: ddr, games, memories
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 / Nintendo Wii : 4 of 5
1.05.2010 6:26 PM \| Link 0 comments	It's amazing how long I've been playing Dance Dance Revolution, first in the arcade, then on my Japanese PSOne and US PlayStation 2, and finally on my Nintendo Wii with the Hottest Party series. I wasn't very impressed with the first release, but Konami really improved the game with Hottest Party 2 (which I really enjoyed, although I completely forgot to write a review). Now I've been playing Hottest Party 3 daily since Santa brought the game for Christmas, and it's definitely my favorite Wii DDR yet! Konami kept the things I liked about Hottest Party 2, hid some of the things I didn't like (I could care less about using the Wiimote for hand motions), and generally made it easier and more fun to play classic DDR. The song selection is really good this time, with a nice set of 80s dance hits (including everything from Duran Duran to Depeche Mode) and lots of anime-style pop, plus some very cool long medleys from Hottest Party 1 and 2 (which you have to unlock). Speaking of unlocking things, Tournament Mode is the way it's done in this release, and thankfully it's a fun mode that didn't force me to play in ways I don't like (I only had to use gimmicks for one song). While most gamers are never impressed with DDR graphics, I think Hottest Party 3 has made some fantastic improvements with a new user interface that shows CD album art, plus some wonderful cut scenes of the cute dancers that show when you hit certain combos (or end your combo, which shows your character hang their head in shame). While the songs are playing, the animated dance moves are really geared toward the song (rather than just random dancing), so the characters play air guitar at appropriate times and camera angles switch on emphasized beats, for example. Jun is my favorite character (with many kimono colors to choose from), but since so many of the songs include the actual music video, I wish I could see her dance more often. There are lots of other modes I haven't tried, including a weird balance board hip-wiggling game, but I'm content with the dance pad (unfortunately, Konami makes you buy yet another dance pad with the game, though they will probably release a game-only version months later). I'm so glad DDR is still popular enough for Konami to create new releases, and I hope someday I'll be playing Hottest Party 10! Labels: ddr, games, wii
Gold's Gym Cardio Workout / Nintendo Wii : 4 of 5
8.26.2009 6:48 PM \| Link 0 comments	The only video games I really get into are ones that help me get some exercise, so I'm always on the lookout for something as fun and sweat-inducing as Dance Dance Revolution. I don't think I'll ever find anything as perfect as DDR, but Gold's Gym Cardio Workout is definitely an addictive and active game! I actually bought it ages ago after watching a video review (plus it was a steal at only $20 bucks), but unfortunately it remained unopened for a long time. But since I've been doing a lot of walking and losing weight, I decided to break it out to add variety to my fitness routine, and I enjoyed it from the moment I started playing it. The basic workout is called Shape Boxing (somewhat like Tai Bo from years ago), so you use a Wiimote in each hand to punch as your trainer directs. In many ways it's like "DDR for your fists", since everything is set to music and the punch icons move up the screen in a similar fashion. There are different kinds of punches (jabs, hooks, uppercuts) as well as ducking and weaving, so the combinations can get complex (the game also encourages weight-shifting footwork, which adds to the energy)! One important tip to anyone playing this game: the defensive dodging really wants you to hold the Wiimotes in an upright position, which took me a while to figure out. Like most fitness games, there is a calendar to track your progress (which keeps a punch count for each day), as well as gold awards that you can use to buy stuff in the shop (such as new clothes for your character or your trainer). In addition to Shape Boxing, there are other exercise games included (a few use the Wii Balance Board), plus a series of Boxing Examinations that you can take when you feel ready (I've passed Levels E, D, and C so far). If you like, your trainer will prepare a set of activities based on your progress, or your can select your own workouts, most of which are a solid 15 or more minutes of punching, so the sweat really starts to pour. I'm really enjoying Gold's Gym Cardio Workout so far - I like playing a fitness game that feels like the real thing! Labels: games, wii
Disney Think Fast / Nintendo Wii : 3 of 5
8.11.2009 11:48 AM \| Link 0 comments	When this game first came out, I figured it would be way too easy for a Disney mega-fan like me, but I still wanted to try it out. I got the chance to play it with my pal Melinda, and even though there are definitely some super-easy questions, I was still attracted to the cool graphics and presentation, as well as some of the more obscure character challenges! I found a copy for only twenty bucks, so I figured it would be cool to sit around and play every now and then, at least until I unlocked everything (unfortunately, I discovered there are only three things to unlock, which I did after the first couple games!). Disney Think Fast has a game show format with the Genie from Aladdin as the host, and you can play as one of several popular Disney characters. You also get to choose your environment (like Ariel's undersea kingdom, or Stitch's Hawaii), which determines the guest character that will show up to ask some questions about that particular movie. Some of the rounds have general knowledge questions that are definitely geared to kids, but of course most of the game is Disney trivia. As I suspected, lots of the questions are a breeze, but there are also plenty of unexpectedly difficult ones (I always forget things like the characters from Robin Hood!). By far the most challenging round is called Observation, which shows a clip and then asks really obscure questions like "How many bells were on the string Dopey was playing?" I actually have a pretty good time trying to get a super-high score. Since some rounds are time-based and some have wrong answer penalties, it can be a challenge to squeak out a few more points to beat my last score. The overall game is a pretty cool Disney experience, and for $20 bucks it's a great diversion to keep my Disney skills sharp! Labels: disney, games, wii
Puzzle fun with Square Scramble
7.12.2009 10:09 AM \| Link 0 comments	Now that I've finished up my Los Angeles trip posts, it's time to mention some other cool news about my pal Dae. A while back he released his first iPhone application on the App Store called Easy Finance, which does all kinds of cool calculations and what-if scenarios, but now he's breaking into the puzzle game market with Square Scramble! The game actually became available while I was in LA, so I got to be his first sale, and it's a really challenging game to play. Square Scramble is easy to learn, but it takes quite a while to develop a strategy, and there are so many levels that I'll never finish them all. My favorite thing about the game is it's totally original - I love how Dae came up with something so classic, yet totally new! It was fun talking with him about the coding and internal details, and I like how he created his own sound effects and everything. It was also cool giving demos of the game at the 4th of July party - judging from people's reactions, it definitely has that puzzle quality that makes you want to figure it out. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next, so keep an eye on his website and check out these apps! Labels: games, iphone, pals
Pump It Up Exceed / PS2 : 4 of 5
2.19.2009 6:19 PM \| Link 0 comments	I actually bought this game back in 2005 when I was trying out all the possible DDR alternatives available, but I didn't really give it a fair trial at first (I didn't even write a review!). But recently I decided to try out some old games again, and I've really been enjoying Pump It Up! If you don't already know, Pump It Up is Korea's answer to Japan's Dance Dance Revolution, so it's essentially the same kind of dance game with one important twist. Actually, it's literally a twist, since the arrows form an X-shape rather than a cross shape, and the center of the X is also a valid step, giving the game all kinds of wild combinations for jumps. I still play Pump It Up at the arcade every now and then, but I've seriously been giving it a workout at home for the past few days! Because of the special step layout, Pump It Up requires a unique non-DDR dance pad controller, which is just a cheap soft pad, but I'm still enjoying it and haven't had any trouble so far. I really like the music, which is grouped into the Pop Channel (which has semi-hits like Stereogram's Walkie Talkie Man and lots of Latin pop), the Kpop Channel (which is full of really cool Korean pop songs), and the Banya Channel (which has some crazy dance arrangements of classical music with awesome names like Beethoven Virus!). There are no dancer characters to choose from, but each song has a complete video, with styles ranging from live-action to CG to great anime-style animation (often with hilarious risque scenes!). My biggest complaint is the lack of a true Endless Mode, although the Survival Mode lets you keep playing without waiting for a final score. My DDR instincts have made it pretty easy to switch to this new dancing style (although 8th notes are tricky since they don't pulsate like in DDR), so I'm going to stick with it until I unlock everything or the dance pad wears out - whichever comes first! Labels: ddr, games
Intellivision memories
1.17.2009 2:23 PM \| Link 0 comments	Dad and I have always had fun together with technology, which includes home video games. When I was really young, I remember we owned some kind of dedicated Pong TV game that we played together, but our gaming history really started with the Intellivision console by Mattel, sometime in the early 80s. Unlike other kids, I never had to talk my dad into wanting to buy a home video game, since he was just as into the advertising hype as I was! Of course, we had to decide between Atari and Mattel, but since the Intellivision came bundled with Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and Dad has always loved gambling and card games, Mattel was the clear winner (and I didn't really care since Dad was buying!). We used to stay at my Grandmother's apartment in Waco each year during Thanksgiving, and while we were there Dad and I would always go shopping together. One year Dad decided this was the perfect opportunity to buy an Intellivision! We were concerned about Grandmother's old TV and how the games would look on it, but since we wanted to play it immediately so badly, Dad just decided, "What the heck, we'll buy her a new TV, too!" It was so much fun getting back to Grandmother's (and surprising Mom with our big spending), hooking up the console, and seeing that Blackjack dealer rendered in giant pixels on the TV! Of course, we thought it was the best thing ever, and over the years we played lots of games together. Dad loves to get excited about something and buy everything in sight (his current passion is iPhone apps), so it wasn't long before we had tons of cartridges (I'm amazed at some of the titles we owned, but I'm sure Dad found them on sale and couldn't resist!). We even bought the Intellivoice module, which allowed us to play the first speaking games for the home market (we loved B-17 Bomber, and still laugh about the voice saying "Watch out for flak! That was close!" to this day). Eventually we got our Atari 800 computer and I got into programming while Dad got into computer gaming, so the good ol' Intellivision went into the closet, but I'll always be nostalgic about those great games! Recently Dad was doing some decluttering and stumbled upon all of our old Intellivision cartridges, neatly stored in cases with the original instruction manuals and controller keypad overlays (which helped you remember some obscure buttons in more complex games). The actual Intellivision console is still missing (possibly in the attic somewhere), but it was really fun to look over the games themselves. I decided the overlays had such cool retro graphics that it would be fun to scan them all, so here's my contribution to online game history. Most of these overlays are available on the cool Intellivision Lives website (highly recommended), but Dad and I had a few that I haven't seen online elsewhere! View photos: Intellivision Overlays Labels: family, games, memories, photos
Neves / Nintendo DS : 4 of 5
1.08.2009 12:45 PM \| Link 3 comments	It's time for the first review from this year's Christmas presents! Although I've already been enjoying books and DVDs, I've been playing my Nintendo DS like crazy thanks to this fun puzzle game. Neves (don't ask me how to pronounce it, but it's the word "seven" backwards!) is an excellent rendition of the classic tangram game, where you try to organize seven shapes into a predefined pattern. Each shape can be rotated and flipped, so there are countless ways to put the pieces together. I've been learning some strategy pretty quickly, such as figuring out where the largest pieces go (since they have fewer possible positions), but sometimes I will look at a puzzle and it seems completely impossible! If I get stuck, I just move on to another one, and often when I come back to it I'll solve it right away. Each of the puzzles looks vaguely like some object, so they are organized into categories like numbers, alphabet (including some Japanese characters), animals, people and so on. You can play in different modes with restrictions on time and number of moves, but I'm just working my way through the regular mode for now. I've completed hundreds of puzzles, and it says I'm 57% finished with the game, which just drives my obsession to get to 100%! My only complaint with Neves is the background music, which gets so old after awhile - thank goodness you can turn it off which you solve a puzzle, but you still have to hear it while you select your next challenge. It's really fun to be obsessed with a puzzle game, and it feels good to be improving as I play it! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Space Invaders Extreme / Nintendo DS : 4 of 5
10.30.2008 11:47 AM \| Link 0 comments	For me, the best indicator that a game is great is when you finish playing and immediately say to yourself, "Just one more game..." Space Invaders Extreme definitely has the "one more game" factor, and I've been having fun playing it for weeks now! Of course, the title tells you exactly what to expect, which is an updated version of the most historic video game next to Pong, but with tons of updates along with the nostalgic charm. The basic game is the same (its simplicity is part of its beauty), but the presentation is incredible - the only way I can describe it is like a psychedelic rave! Hyper artistic backgrounds move around, pumping music plays that is actually affected by your game play (hits are sometimes accented by cymbals and other percussion that go with the soundtrack), and text elements have a fantastic futuristic look. Even the voice used to announce different rounds has that great female computer-ish sound! As far as changes to the basic gameplay, there are some cool bonus rounds with various challenges that reward you with some "fever" time (where you can really knock out a lot of invaders), plus various weapon powers like multiple shots or huge laser beams. After a certain number of rounds there are also bosses to beat, which moves to the next full level of the game. Of course, you can keep continuing where you left off, making this game incredibly addicting since you want to keep going to see how far you can get! Overall, Space Invaders Extreme is incredibly simple, but the presentation is so fantastic that it's one of the coolest games I've played in a long time. Now if you'll excuse me I have to see if I can get past the Level 4 boss again! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Dance Dance Revolution X / PS2 : 4 of 5
10.26.2008 7:35 AM \| Link 0 comments	It's amazing that DDR has been around since 1998, and this new release celebrates the 10 year anniversary of the game! It's always exciting for me to dive into a new DDR game, since everything is so fresh and there's tons of things to unlock. But Dance Dance Revolution X is quite a bit different than the Supernova series - besides a few dancer outfits and songs, almost everything is already available from the start, even Endless Mode, which is usually the "grand prize" after unlocking everything. So, the whole idea of earning points to spend at the store has been scrapped, and the new master mode is now Street Master Mode, which follows a loose story for each of the characters. It's kind of interesting at first, as the characters move around on a map and engage in dialogue, but it gets old pretty fast! But there's plenty to love about DDR X for me, too. The song list is nice and long and includes some cool new indie tracks and anime themes (with videos) as well as the DDR classics like Butterfly (absolutely essential for an anniversary mix!). The difficulty levels seems to be well balanced, too - the basic steps aren't too boring to be fun, and the more advanced steps are challenging without being suicidal! While the stage backgrounds are a little silly (why am I dancing in front of giant cupcakes?), the dancers themselves look awesome. Alice is back with new outfits, including a super cute Native American number that takes the award for hottest video game pants! Even though it feels like DDR X is kind of less advanced than previous releases, it's still got all the elements I enjoy for hours of fun and exercise. Now I just have to work up the addiction and keep dancing! Labels: ddr, games
Meteos: Disney Magic / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
10.20.2008 12:11 PM \| Link 0 comments	About a year ago I was really addicted to the original Meteos, so it was an easy decision to check out this new version of the game with a Disney theme (and I got it for a nice used price!). All of the basic game play in this falling blocks game is the same as before, with one huge difference - you can move blocks left and right rather than only up and down! This was something that I always wanted to do while playing the original, but now that I've experienced it, I actually think the original method is a little more fun and challenging. I suppose this version was intended to be a little easier for Disney audiences, but to compensate for the block-moving flexibility I think they ramped up the levels a little too much, making it impossible to get anywhere without double or triple launching sometimes. But on to the Disney theme! Each level uses a classic Disney film to somehow give meaning to the falling blocks, so you have to play the game to "restore order" to the story, with Jiminy Cricket and Tinker Bell as your guides. There are some nice Disney graphics on the non-touchscreen while you play the game (but of course you don't really have time to look at them!), and working through the various stories will unlock these images in a library, which gives you something to shoot for rather than just a high score. There are tons of movies represented here (including Pixar films), and it's fun to go through the various storybooks (which were planets in the original game) for variety. But somehow, even though I love the Disney theme, the original science fiction look was a little better, or maybe I just enjoyed Meteos so much that Disney Magic can't really compare. If you were never hooked on the original game and you're a Disney fan, I would definitely recommend this version, since you'll get to enjoy a little easier game concept with all your favorite characters! Labels: disney, games, nintendo ds
Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor / Nintendo DS : 4 of 5
8.22.2008 11:59 AM \| Link 0 comments	I know I'm pretty weird when it comes to games, but I've enjoyed playing Cartoon Conductor more than any other game in the past several weeks! At last I have that great feeling of being addicted to something, and it feels great to pick up my DS for a quick game just about every time I sit down. Cartoon Conductor is a rhythm tapping game pretty similar to Elite Beat Agents, but with several differences. The most obvious is the whole game is themed to classic Warner Bros. cartoons, so as you play each song, a kind of re-creation of the cartoon plays on the top screen. These are done with sort of crappy polygon versions of Bugs and his pals, which may drive people crazy, but I still think it's fun to see these new versions of great tunes, including my favorites: What's Opera Doc? and The Rabbit of Seville! Next, all of the songs are classical music (just like your average cartoon score), which sometimes makes it tough to discover the rhythm at times, but it certainly helps to be familiar with the pieces beforehand. Finally, rather than tapping each numbered note, you have to drag between notes to form long phrases - I guess this makes it seem more like "conducting", but for me it's much more difficult to time a precise drag than a tap! Even though I've passed all of the songs on the first two levels with ease, I still think the game is challenging, and I keep playing over and over to improve my grade for each song. The synthesized music actually sounds great, and the game is just exploding with authentic cartoon sound bites that play all over the place (even when you're just navigating through the menus). Call me crazy, but this is the kind of game I enjoy, and I'll be playing Cartoon Conductor for a long, long time! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Star Fox Command / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
8.08.2008 6:48 AM \| Link 0 comments	I got this game a long time ago since I read so many good reviews, plus I couldn't resist the nostalgia factor since I remember playing Star Fox back when I had a Nintendo 64. The game actually works really well for the DS - even though this is a first-person flying game, you can control the ship pretty easily using only the stylus (and buttons for firing, of course), which is pretty cool. The graphics are really reminiscent of the original game with lots of solid polygon shapes and not too much detail, but I thought it was just enough to look nice. Other graphics like all the animal characters and maps are beautiful, though. Unfortunately, this is another kind of game that I'm just not very good at, and I don't really have the patience to keep practicing very long! The training missions were lots of fun, learning to fly and target enemies, and then the first actual battle was cool, but after that the game suddenly really ramps up the skill level (especially when there's the added strategy twist of managing a certain number of moves to engage the enemy). I'm sure it would be fun to progress to meet the other characters and so on, but I think I need to accept my chosen gaming genres and stop straying into territory that I know will drive me nuts! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team / Nintendo DS : 2 of 5
7.28.2008 7:47 PM \| Link 0 comments	Even though I pretty much know the kinds of games that I will enjoy the most, I still get tempted to try new things that look cool or interesting. Since I was crazy about Pokemon Yellow back in 2000 (wow, that was a long time ago!), I thought it was time to try a new Pokemon game, and the concept of this game was intriguing. In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, you actually become a Pokemon yourself, which is selected based on a little personality quiz that made me a Bulbasaur. Then you pick your companion (I chose Squirtle, since I'm totally old school when it comes to Pokemon!), and the two of you setup shop as a rescue team for other Pokemon that end up lost or in some other kind of trouble. There is a loose story going on that drives different missions you take, and you meet up with rival rescue teams and so on, but most of the game is lots of wandering around (using the nice automatic mapping feature) and battling with other Pokemon. Of course, you have several different fighting and defense moves, and you get to level up and learn new things on the way, but I was kind of surprised and just how much battle there was. It seemed funny that Pokemon "in the wild" would be beating up on each other so much - pretty different from the spirit of the show I remember! I thought the game play was pretty fun, but the huge number of menus and options and so on were a little mind-boggling. I guess I just don't want to worry about what kinds of berries are the best for certain kinds of Pokemon and all of that stuff anymore! There's nothing wrong with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - it's just not really the kind of game that gets me addicted, although I certainly had fun with it! Labels: games, nintendo ds, pokemon
Duck Amuck / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
7.15.2008 8:09 PM \| Link 0 comments	Since I'm a Warner Bros. fan and Duck Amuck is one of the greatest cartoons ever, I knew right away that Duck Amuck the game would be fun! Just like the cartoon, you get to drive Daffy Duck crazy by messing with his surroundings, slicing him in half, or drawing new body parts, with the ultimate goal of making him so mad that he blows his top. The game play is a little strange, since Daffy just stands there waiting for you to do something (like bonk him on the head or rip holes in the background), and depending on what you do, a different mini-game is introduced. There are tons of games, but it can be tricky to discover them all! Some of the games are pretty amazing, with terrific images, music, and sound effects, especially ones that are directly inspired by other famous cartoons (such as Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century). Some are even spoofs of video games in general, such as the fantastic 8-bit Atari-esque masterpiece, which is actually one of my favorites! One of the games makes you close the DS and press the corner buttons based on Daffy's spoken directions, which is sheer genius. On the downside, it can be confusing to figure out some of the games, since sometimes you want to play to win, but other times you have to make Daffy lose, since the ultimate goal is to make him mad. Since you have to experiment to find all the mini-games, it can be frustrating to have to play some of the same games over and over. But with all that aside, Daffy's animation and voice work are absolutely perfect, and it's almost like you really do have a little Daffy trapped in your DS! Listening to Daffy's lines definitely made me laugh out loud more than once while playing Duck Amuck, and you can hardly ask for more than that from a video game! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Jam Sessions / Nintendo DS : 2 of 5
7.09.2008 7:01 AM \| Link 0 comments	Playing guitar used to be a huge part of my life, and I even took guitar lessons, practiced all the time, and wrote songs. That phase ended many years ago, but when I heard about Jam Sessions, I was pretty interested, since it's essentially a guitar simulator for the DS! The touch screen has an area that you can "strum" (up and down strokes even sound different), while you use the buttons on the DS to change chords - it's actually a lot like an autoharp. There's a mind-boggling set of options available, including cool effects like distortion and delay, plus several ways to customize how you "play" the instrument. The sounds are all actual guitar samples (they recorded all those chords with different sound possibilities), but of course the tiny DS speakers can only do so much. There are quite a few licensed songs included so you can strum along (with the chords shown on the upper screen), but I wasn't really a fan of any of them. Truthfully, my one disappointment with Jam Sessions is that it's not a game at all - it's just a guitar. There are some great tutorials to follow, and a fantastic ear training section (which was my favorite thing to try, since it's the most like a game challenge), but in reality you are left with a tiny guitar to strum on your own. I also think it would have been cool if there was a way to play power chords, rather than only full open chords, since they would sound much better using the effects. Jam Sessions is definitely a unique achievement, but I don't think I'll find myself using it to make music very often. But if you're interested in learning the basics of guitar and how chords work, I would definitely give it a try! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Brain Age 2 / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
7.04.2008 10:10 AM \| Link 0 comments	Can you believe I'm just now writing about this game I got for Christmas? I've just been doing a lot of other things lately rather than playing my DS, but I'm starting to get back into gaming mode! Actually, I've been playing Brain Age 2 every now and then for several weeks now, so I've pretty much got a taste for the whole thing. It's a lot like the original Brain Age, with an identical interface, but the challenges are all different. The new voice recognition game is a variation on Rock, Paper, Scissors, where you have to say the winning (or losing!) move, which can be really tough to do quickly. Actually, I got tired of this one pretty quick, so I just kept opting for the "I can't speak" selection. Of course, there are various math games which are fun, and I was surprised how good I got at making change (since in my only retail experience the register always did that for me!). I really liked the Piano Player game, since I'm good at music and rhythm, and Word Blend (which plays voices saying a few words simultaneously for you to guess) was pretty cool, too. There's a ton of Sudoku puzzles available (just like on the original game), but I get annoyed when the professor character makes you do some silly connect-the-dots game just to move on to what you want to play! My best Brain Age Check was 30, which isn't too bad I guess, considering my actual age. If you enjoyed the original game, Brain Age 2 is definitely more of the same fun, but right now I'm ready to move on to some other Christmas DS games! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party / Nintendo Wii : 3 of 5
6.03.2008 6:55 AM \| Link 0 comments	Since I'm always excited when a new version of DDR comes out, I traded in some old PS2 games and bought this in 2007 for my Wii right away, even though I knew it would be a bummer to play with the included dance pad (since my cool PS2 dance pads won't work with the Wii). But when I started playing, I was totally disappointed - Hottest Party just didn't feel like DDR! It's hard to explain, but it seemed like the original Japanese fun had been stripped from the game, so I immediately wrote it off and didn't even review it. But recently while I was trying out older DDR mixes, I looked at the Wii dance pad and decided to give it a fair chance, and now I'm really enjoying the game! I still have plenty of gripes, so I'll get those out of the way first. I really hate the look of the characters (I don't mind giant heads, but at least make them cute!), most option settings don't get saved, so I have to reset them every time I play (since I just want to play classic DDR, without all those bombs and crap in my way, and even though this is a Wii game, I don't give a flip about using my hands), and the annoying two second pause at the end of each song is a bummer. And don't get me started on the missing Endless Mode! But there's a lot for me to like, too! This DDR mix is almost entirely new songs, so I have tons of fresh material to experience (but not a single Jpop tune, unfortunately). The Groove Circuit mode that you play to unlock new items only requires you to dance your best - thankfully it doesn't want to you do any unnatural things like avoiding a certain arrow or whatever! So, I'm definitely going to give this game (and my feet) a workout, and if I like the next Wii DDR being released later this year, I'll even buy a better third-party Wii dance pad. I'm still not thrilled with the "tone" of Hottest Party, but I'm glad I decided to play it again and keep it in my regular DDR rotation! Labels: ddr, games, wii
Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Channel Edition / PS2 : 4 of 5
4.11.2008 7:44 AM \| Link 0 comments	Since a steady supply of fresh music is essential to keeping me addicted to DDR, I decided to buy this special Disney Channel version of the game, even though I haven't watched many of the featured shows (why didn't they make this back when I was a Lizzie McGuire junky?). I knew this game would have less songs than the average DDR mix, and truthfully I was expecting a simple rehash of DDR Supernova, but surprisingly, they really gave this game a distinctive look, and I like it! Of course, most of the music is from Disney Channel shows and movies, such as High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and a few other things like the Cheetah Girls, That's So Raven and Kim Possible (which is one of my favorite themes to dance to, actually!). The game comes almost totally unlocked right out of the box, so you can play Endless Mode right away! The only challenge to overcome is revealing a second outfit for each of the characters, which you can do by beating that character in a three-song battle (unfortunately, the Battle Mode makes such annoying noises that you can barely follow the music). The game itself has unique graphics, with lots of Disney Channel logos and character photos, and all of the characters are pretty well-animated with new dance moves (so rather than my old favorite DDR characters Emi or Alice, I have to dance with Miley!). To fill out the Disney songs, there are a few Konami tracks which are mostly totally new to me - I never knew a DDR tango could be so much fun. I've been enjoying this game for a few weeks now, and I have to say that all those positive lyrics eventually make me feel like I'm dancing at a Disney park! Labels: ddr, disney, games
Back to socks
3.26.2008 5:57 AM \| Link 0 comments	I've been cranking out 20-25 songs on DDR everyday for the past several days, and all of that stepping has made my failing RedOctane Afterburner start to really annoy me. The down arrow just doesn't register half the time, and I tried taking it apart to clean it, swapping arrow panels, and so on, but nothing really helped. I've used the Afterburner for so long that I thought I could never go back to anything else, but since I've been a little more frugal lately, I wasn't prepared to shell out the big bucks for a new one just yet! So in an act of desperation, I dug under my bed (where I have about four other old forgotten DDR pads!) and found my trusty RedOctane Ignition pad. I decided to give it a try, and I'm loving it! Maybe all the years of playing with shoes on has made me appreciate the feel of socks again, but I can't believe how light and free it seems. It took me about five minutes to get used to it, and suddenly I was hitting 800+ combos again with no problem. I could never do that with a bum down arrow! So, I'm happy to say I'm really enjoying Endless Mode on Supernova 2, and I went ahead and got the Disney Channel mix for a little variety, which I'll start playing soon. It feels great to be in control of my dancing score again! Labels: ddr, games
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters : 4 of 5
3.25.2008 10:50 PM \| Link 0 comments	This documentary received a lot of press in Austin, since it was shown at a special sold-out screening at the Alamo Drafthouse, so I've been anxiously waiting the DVD release, which I watched with my Sunday night pals recently, and we all loved it! The film is about classic video game high score record holders, specifically the well-known champion Billy Mitchell and his underdog competitor Steve Wiebe and their quest to hold the record on Donkey Kong. It turns out Donkey Kong is one of the hardest video games out there, and it's even more difficult because of the "kill screen" which ends the game (essentially a software crash!) after about 2-3 hours of play. The movie is jam packed with interviews with these two video athletes, along with just about everyone they've ever met, and even covers the quirky Twin Galaxies organization, which officially verifies and records all video game scores (and is even sourced by the Guinness Book of World Records). I can't begin to express how well this film is edited - it's certainly one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, and definitely among the most entertaining! It's incredible how much you begin to root for Steve, especially after observing what an arrogant jerk Billy is, and the ever-building tension is fantastic! I usually don't bother watching bonus features on a rented DVD, but I actually had to keep this disc an extra day to enjoy them all, including and incredible side-by-side Donkey Kong playing comparison with professional commentary! The King of Kong is fantastic on so many levels, and it made my pals and I so nostalgic that we had to play a few games of Donkey Kong on my Nintendo Wii afterwards! Labels: dvds, games
Dance Dance Revolution Supernova 2 / PS2 : 5 of 5
3.14.2008 5:50 PM \| Link 0 comments	Fresh after my victory with DDR Supernova, I decided to buy DDR Supernova 2, which has been out a long time, so it's great to finally play it! I've been doing some major stepping lately, playing almost everyday, shooting for my usual goal of unlocking Endless Mode, and I'm happy to say that I unlocked it today! So, this is a good time to write a quick review, which can be easily done by saying that DDR Supernova 2 is essentially the same game as the original, with nearly all the faults corrected! The best improvement is that Hyper Master Mode is someone easier (and less stupid) than the old Stellar Master Mode, and better yet, you can actually unlock everything in the game by sheer determination, since eventually items unlock based on total hours of game play (thank goodness!). The song list is actually pretty great (for my taste), since there are plenty of Jpop songs to keep me happy, as well as some songs that I just can't get enough of - I could dance to Dragon Blade over and over (and I have!), and I love Freeway Shuffle as well. As usual, there are several songs with videos, but unfortunately they didn't bother syncing them up (but I guess it doesn't matter since I'm watching the arrows anyway), including some awesome anime videos - I love playing Baby Tears with the Sky Girls intro (it makes me want to watch that anime!). Another cool tweak is the quick manga style character drawings that appear after 20, 50, and 100 step combos - Emi looks so cute! In order to earn the points to unlock everything, I played just about every mode possible, even Battle Mode, which is kind of fun if you enjoy those crazy options. DDR Supernova 2 is definitely one of my favorite mixes, and now I'm excited about enjoying the joys of Endless Mode! Labels: ddr, games
Guitar Hero III / Nintendo Wii : 5 of 5
2.20.2008 7:55 AM \| Link 0 comments	Even though I love my Nintendo Wii, I actually don't play very many games with it, since I'm either spending time with DDR or my Nintendo DS. But since I went so crazy for the original Guitar Hero on my PS2, my pals Chris and Barron knew I would enjoy this latest version of the game for the Wii, so they got it for my birthday! As expected, Guitar Hero III quickly took over all my free time, and I spent several days in a row playing until after midnight! I really love the wireless controller - it's cool how the Wiimote fits inside so I can rock out in my rocking chair with no cords to bug me. This version has lots of great songs (although I don't really know many of these rock anthems), plus a new battle feature that forces you to complete against some famous guitar players (such as Tom Morello and Slash, who actually wrote and recorded their battle music for the game) and even Lou the devil! Some of the songs are unexpectedly great - it may not be everyone's favorite, but it's really fun playing with Black Magic Woman, since the subtle licks really feel authentic on the guitar controller. It's funny how much brand sponsorship appears in the game (a testament to how popular this franchise has become) - even the store when you can buy new goodies for the game is a Guitar Center! So far I've completely beat the game (every song to the end) on Easy mode, and I only have the final battle left in Medium mode, and there's still plenty of unlocked lesser-known songs for me to play. Thanks to Guitar Hero III, my Wii has been getting a great workout again! Labels: games, wii
Endless fun (and exercise)
2.19.2008 12:46 PM \| Link 0 comments	DDR Supernova is notorious for being difficult to unlock, since you have to be able to buy every single song before you have access to Endless Mode (which is always my Holy Grail when it comes to DDR). Since I've been playing more recently, I decided to read up on the game and get some tips, so I was able to get much further on Stellar Master Mode than I had in the past, which got me a few songs. I really didn't think I had them all, but a couple days ago I realized that I had actually done it - Endless Mode was finally unlocked! I was totally surprised and excited, and I've been playing it ever since then and really enjoying it! I've got a new DDR game on the way, so I'll be playing that one soon, but I think I want to have some epic Endless sessions with this game for a while longer to celebrate! Labels: ddr, games
Back on the arrows
2.09.2008 8:02 AM \| Link 0 comments	Lately I've been starting to get into Dance Dance Revolution again, since it's probably the best form of exercise that I've ever done regularly. I love walking, but when it's cold or windy (or my allergies are getting to me), it's much easier to play a few games of DDR, which usually makes me sweat more than walking anyway! Since I've played the game for so many years, I've been a little burnt out - you can only listen to those songs over and over so many times! I actually bought DDR Hottest Party for the Wii, but it was incredibly disappointing (I didn't even review it here since it was so craptacular). So I decided to brush off the old PS2 again and see if I could get my interest back. Since I've been on hiatus for a while, it actually seems a little fresh. Of course, I had lost my stamina (but not my technique!), so I played through every single song on DDR Supernova in Beginner mode, which was boring, but improved my timing. Since then I've done the same thing for Easy mode, and now I'm almost through with Expert (I still prefer calling that Trick mode like the old days!). My old RedOctane Afterburner dance pad is still hanging tough, even though the down arrow sensor is going bad - it really only affects freeze arrows, though, and I'm not as obsessed with perfect scores since my main goal is working out. I guess pretty soon I'm going to have to buy DDR Supernova 2 (and maybe the Disney Channel version, too), which is exciting since playing a new mix is always cool! Labels: ddr, games
Picross DS / Nintendo DS : 5 of 5
12.23.2007 10:25 PM \| Link 0 comments	This was my first Christmas gift of the year, as well as the first of many new DS games, and I've played it every single day since I unwrapped it! I've always enjoyed puzzle games on my DS, especially when they are as unique as this one - I'm definitely glad all the positive reviews I read were so right. The puzzles in Picross DS are called nonograms (which of course I didn't know until writing this!) that I can only describe as "Sudoku with pixels", since the goal is to fill in the appropriate pixels in a grid using logic clues. Picross DS has different modes of difficulty, each divided into many levels, and I love how the levels are arranged in picture themes (such as animals, sea creatures, flying things, and so on). If you solve a puzzle within the time limit (which can be difficult since filling in an incorrect pixel adds penalty time), the picture transforms into an animated color version that looks like cool 8-bit video game graphics! I've been solving three or four puzzles a day during my vacation, so I'm up to 15x15 grids, which are displayed on the DS top screen in full, but zoomed on the lower screen. Once you get used to the interface it works very well, although I sometimes make a mistake by pressing the wrong direction! I'm still unlocking puzzles, so there's enough pictures to keep me playing for a very long time (and I think I can download additional puzzles from the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection!). Picross DS is extremely addictive and fun, so if you enjoy this game genre, I hope you got it for Christmas, too! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All / Nintendo DS : 4 of 5
12.14.2007 7:16 AM \| Link 0 comments	The original Phoenix Wright was the most addicting game I've ever played, and this sequel was definitely intriguing and tons of fun, but I kept getting distracted and taking breaks. But since I'm pretty sure Santa will be bringing me the next game in the series, I've been stealing every free moment to play, and now it's finished! Justice For All has all the same elements and lots of characters from the original game, but also introduces some new devices, namely the Psyche-Lock. When I first read about these I thought they would be confusing, but actually they are a pretty straightforward extension to the game play (even though their mystical nature stretched the tone of the game a little). Phoenix's new major rival is Franziska Von Karma, the tough daughter of one of the prosecutors from the first game, and she's pretty funny (and intimidating) with her whip cracks and attitude (although her dialogue gets a little ridiculous)! I definitely enjoyed the addition of Pearl, a cute little girl from a small village (and Maya's cousin) who provides the means to breaking Psyche-Locks with her special stone (it definitely sounds a lot less like a courtroom drama and more like a fantasy game when you try to describe it!). There are four cases this time around, ranging from a quick introduction case, to a bizarre circus murder, to the unbelievably huge final case with the special twist of Maya being kidnapped! I was hoping for a little more interaction (like the search for blood stains in the original game), but there was only one similar instance of sweeping for bugs. Overall, this is another fantastic "must play" game for the Nintendo DS, just as innovative and fun as the original, and I'm hoping this series continues for a long time! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Nodame Cantabile / Nintendo DS : 4 of 5
6.28.2007 5:40 PM \| Link 0 comments	I knew I had to get this import game after reading about it, since I'm a fan of just about any music game, and this one is focused on classical music! The story is based on the popular manga of the same name, which I haven't read (although Mikie recommended it to me, so I think I will starting reading it soon), but that hasn't kept me from really enjoying this game. The main object of the game is to follow a conductor by tapping and dragging on floating musical notes with precise timing, kind of like Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! with moving targets. The musical selections are all classical hits, including popular pieces by Mozart and Bach and even opera favorites, and the renditions sound pretty good on the DS, too. There are also a few extra mini-games, one of which is a nice version of Taiko Drum Master (although simplified), plus some funny things like cleaning up a dorm room (which can be a challenge since you kind of need to understand how garbage is sorted in Japan!) or helping cook dishes at a Chinese restaurant. All of this is tied together by the manga storyline about students at a music school and their various interactions. Of course, all of the dialogue is in Japanese, and even though I can read quite a bit of it, I actually just click through to the games pretty quickly. Nodame Cantabile is a great addition to my rhythm game collection, and it's definitely fun to tap along to some nice symphonies for a change! Labels: games, nintendo ds
Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 / Nintendo DS : 5 of 5
6.03.2007 7:17 AM \| Link 0 comments	As you may know, I have plenty of Nintendo DS games waiting for me to play, but since rhythm games will always be my favorite, I had to make the time to play this sequel to one of the best games ever, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! This new version of the Japanese game includes all of the cool features that were added when the game was Americanized into Elite Beat Agents, such as the incredibly important skip feature (which lets you keep trying to pass a stage without having to listen to the song intro over and over!). In addition to the regular Ouendan characters in their black uniforms, there's also a rival squad in blue uniforms - they divide up the city to help various people, and of course join forces for the big finale. I'd say the easy mode may be a little too easy, since I passed every song all the way to the end on the first try, and since then I've finished the medium and half of the hard mode. The song choices are cool, as usual, including some Jpop that I already knew, plus lots of great songs that I want to check out now! I thought it was cool that Sambomaster's Sekai wa Sore o Ai to Yobundaze is the final song - hearing it so many times as the closing theme of Densha Otoko really helped! The manga-style introductions to each stage are really funny, but unfortunately not as entertaining as the first version (although I thought the bedwetting stage was a total riot!). They could release a new version of the game every month and I would obediently buy it and enjoy it - it's just that good! Labels: games, nintendo ds
I Still Don't Know Jack
5.16.2007 6:16 AM \| Link 0 comments	I've been a You Don't Known Jack fan from the very first version of the game, back when it came out for the Mac in 1995! I've always loved the crazy categories and questions (most of the fun of the game is figuring out what the "real" question is, since it's usually buried in some clever pop culture reference), and the game show style announcer Cookie is always hilarious. A few years later I picked up the Playstation version of the game, but for the past few years I had completely forgotten about it. Now there's a totally new online version of the game, ready for anyone to play on the You Don't Known Jack website! They have a full-blown episode of the game every week, and a new Dis or Dat mini-game every day, and you can even register to keep track of your scores (and mine are pretty awful at the moment!). I've always loved the text-centric design of the game, and now it looks even cooler since Flash animation has come so far. I'll definitely be checking in to play every now and then (and I need to try all the past episodes that I've missed)! Labels: games, life
Enjoying iQuiz
4.29.2007 2:28 PM \| Link 0 comments	Yesterday I decided to try out iQuiz, Apple's newest iPod game available from the iTunes Store for only 99 cents, and it's really fun! It uses all of the information about the songs stored on your iPod to generate a random music quiz that cleverly uses sound clips and album art for a really cool game show experience. It's so much fun answering questions about your own music, but it can be funny since my music taste is so broad (with questions like "Who performed this song - Morning Musume or Beethoven?"). Each game has several rounds of questions and even bonus "lightning rounds" to keep things interesting, and the graphics are cool, too. iQuiz can also play general trivia quizzes, including custom ones you can make yourself. For only a buck, I'm really impressed with the game, and it' a fun way to enjoy all of my music in a new way! Labels: games, ipod
Meteos / Nintendo DS : 4 of 5
4.03.2007 12:55 PM \| Link 0 comments	I've been having trouble keeping all my hobbies in balance lately, so my poor Nintendo DS and Wii have been getting lonely. I finally started making some time the past few days to play some games, though, and I since I felt like playing something I could get into quickly, I decided to give Meteos (which I got for Christmas) a workout! This is a really old Nintendo DS game, but if you read anything about it, you'll quickly see that it's a classic that everyone likes. Meteos is a great variation on the usual falling-block game, and the object is to get three blocks of the same kind in a row so they "launch" into the sky. The trick is you can only move blocks vertically, which took a while for me to get used to. The game has a really cool science-fiction style to it, including playing the game on various "planets" (which provides a lot of variation, since the block launching may work differently on planets with unusual gravity and so on). I really like the Star Trip mode, which lets you progress from planet to planet, and it's also fun to unlock different things, based on the number of the various types of blocks you've launched. Along with the fun gameplay, the game has some cool graphics, sounds, and different music for different planets. Meteos is definitely a game with tons of replay possibilities, and it's great for getting a five-minute DS fix here and there. Ah, it feels good to play something again - I'll have to move on to another game soon! Labels: games, nintendo ds
WarioWare Smooth Moves / Nintendo Wii : 5 of 5
2.17.2007 7:48 AM \| Link 0 comments	I've been playing WarioWare mini-games all the way back to my GameBoy Advance days, so WarioWare Smooth Moves was definitely the game I had to buy after waiting all night for my Nintendo Wii! In case you don't remember, WarioWare consists of tons and tons of tiny games, each only a few seconds long, that are thrown at you one after the other, and you generally have to figure out how the game works and complete it super quickly. WarioWare is perfect for the Wii, since using the Wiimote is so natural in most cases, and can definitely be used in creative ways. In fact, the game demonstrates several ways to hold the Wiimote (which are displayed and narrated just like Jack Handey's Deep Thoughts from the old Saturday Night Live), and each games flashes the position you'll need to use. Sometimes you hold it on your hip and actually jump to make a character jump rope on screen, or even put the Wiimote down and pick it up like you're answering a phone (and the built-in speaker actually says hello)! My favorite by far is the short driving game, since it feels so cool to use the Wiimote as a steering wheel. All of the classic WarioWare characters are back this time, but the quality of the cartoon segments is simply amazing - even better than the usual Cartoon Network standards (watching Jimmy T. dance with all the little kitties is just too cute for words)! The only drawback to Smooth Moves is that I enjoyed it so much that I pretty much played it all the way to the end in one long session, but now I can always go back and re-play my favorite segments. The Wii is amazing, and this game really shows off what it can do! Labels: games, wii
Miis in my Wii
1.28.2007 9:06 AM \| Link 0 comments	If you haven't guessed from my Top Ten post, my replacement Nintendo Wii arrived this week, exactly on time just like Nintendo promised. I'm so glad that Nintendo customer service was efficient and took care of me, especially after I camped out for them! My new Wii is working great, and I'm really impressed with it! The whole concept of the Mii (little cartoon people you can create that represent yourself in the games) was strange to me when I read about it, but it quickly becomes one of the coolest features, especially since you can share your Miis with your friends. So, besides my WEBmikey Mii, I have my pals Chris and Barron, plus their families, wandering around in my Wii, which means when I play baseball, they are on my team, or when I play bowling, they are sitting in the background chatting and cheering for me. It's so amazing! (I also made Miis of Sayumi and Reina from Morning Musume, so they show up at the bowling alley sometimes, too.) The Wiimote continues to amaze me, especially after experiencing all the different ways it can be used while playing WarioWare Smooth Moves. I have a feeling the Wii is definitely going to force me to manage my time better! My Wii wasn't the only good news this week! After years of trips to Reno, Vegas, and their local casino, my parents finally scored a big win! Every time they go to Riverwind Casino, they enter a daily drawing that increases over time, since you have to be present to win. This week, they picked Dad's name, so he won a significant four-figure cash prize! Mom and Dad were so excited, and I'm excited for them! Labels: games, wii
Wii adventure
1.21.2007 10:45 PM \| Link 0 comments	Since I'm a Nintendo fan and I love innovative games, I wanted a Nintendo Wii almost as soon as I heard about them, but I decided to let the Christmas rush go by. Since then I was just hoping to buy one on Amazon, but after my pal Chris and I read all of the rumors about this weekend's Wii "re-launch", we decided to camp-out and try to get one. Here's my good news, bad news, good news story about my Wii adventure! Chris and I decided to drive around and take a look at possible stores around 10:00 PM. The plan was to keep checking things out until a line formed, then get in the line. We expected this would happen sometime after midnight, but when we got to Circuit City, there were already two people planted in their chairs, with a cooler of drinks and a boom box! We sat in the car for a little bit, and a third camper showed up. So, we knew we had to stake our claim right away. After we setup our chairs, the five of us happened to notice that they had just posted a sign on the Circuit City door that said, "Number of Wiis at this store: 5". We couldn't believe it - only five Wiis were there, and there were already five of us waiting at 10:00 PM! So, we pretty much knew we were going to get one, and the wait began. Overall, the wait was pretty fun. Even though it had been raining earlier, we didn't see a drop during the whole night. However, we did have to make through a 35-degree temperature night! We played some Mario Kart on Nintendo DS - one of the other guys had a DS, so we had some a nice three-way races. Our fellow campers were really nice guys - definitely crazy college students (so crazy that they did some insane shopping cart acrobatics in the parking lot), but nice enough to offer us drinks and conversation. The music from their boom box was a tremendous help - it was an all night dance party! Shawn & Bernadette drove by to visit us, and a cop stopped and chatted with us, too. I only had to pee once "in the wild", and then Starbucks opened at 6:00 AM. The worst hour was 3:00-4:00 AM, which I spent wrapped in a blanket up to my eyeballs. When the sun came up, it was fantastic! However, that's when all the other Wii-hopefuls came by, and we had to tell nearly 100 people that the store only had five (and show them the sign), which got pretty old! But at 10:00 AM, after our 12-hour wait, we got our Wiis! We went back to Chris' house and hooked his up right away, then had a blast playing Wii Sports, especially baseball and boxing! Then I went home and zonked out. Later in the evening I got up to play with my Wii, and had fun for about an hour playing with the internet features. But when I tried to load the Wii Sports disc, it made terrible whining, grinding noises, and the disc became stuck in the Wii! I think the slot loading mechanism was just faulty, but it basically meant my hard-earned Wii was a dud. I tried to stay cool, though, and I called Nintendo right away. Almost immediately they offered to send me a new one via their replacement program, and I should have it in just a few days. So, the final happy ending to my story will be when the new Wii arrives, but regardless of my little setback, I enjoyed the camping experience, and I know I'm going to love my Wii! Labels: games, wii
Touch Detective / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
1.18.2007 10:48 PM \| Link 0 comments	I've started to enjoy mystery games more than ever before, thanks to titles like the amazing Trace Memory and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. I like to think of them more as interactive novels, since you really just keep trying things until you follow the correct path that leads you to the one ending for the story. But this can be taken to an extreme, which is my only frustration with Touch Detective. There are plenty of times that the story won't progress just because you haven't made a certain character say a certain phrase in a certain location, which forces you to frantically try crazy things for the sake of the game, rather than by deductive reasoning. But enough minor complaints - I still really enjoyed this game! You play as Mackenzie, a girl detective with a pet mushroom creature who solves mysteries. The characters are really cute and funny, and the environments are colorful and unique - there's a 3D rendering style to everything, and some nice cut-scene illustrations, too. The setting is a bizarre fantasy world with cases about stealing dreams, a snow fairy in danger of melting, and treachery in a flea circus, mostly involving Mackenzie's silly friend Penelope. There's also a rival detective named Chloe who provides more craziness and help, and lots of other folks in the town you will get to know quickly. This game was addictive enough that I had to finish all four cases in a short time, and now I'll probably try some bonus missions. If you like mystery games even when they're goofy, you'll enjoy Touch Detective! Labels: games
Top Ten reasons I like Nintendo DS
1.11.2007 10:06 PM \| Link 0 comments	It's time for another meaningless Top Ten list! It's no secret that I'm a Nintendo DS junkie, since I've become more addicted to it than any other gaming platform I've ever played. There's nothing new in this list that DS fans don't already know, but these are the things that come to mind when I think of my beloved Nintendo DS! Using dual screens (where the DS gets it name) is an amazing idea that seems strange at first, but allows for some great game designs that would be much more difficult or clumsy on a single screen. The screens are beautiful, bright and crisp on the DS Lite! Touch screen gaming is the only way to play! I would much rather intuitively tap and drag than learn lots of confusing button combinations. The touch screen is just so natural, and I can't imaging using anything else. Lots of DS games have excellent music which plays in stereo. The built-in speakers are OK, but using headphones really brings out some high quality sound! If you play for hour or so a day like I do, it seems like the battery lasts forever! There's a great indicator light that give you plenty of warning when you need to charge, and recharging is a snap. The DS Lite is such a nice, convenient size that can go anywhere. It hardly takes up any room in my carry-on bag when I fly, which is when my DS gets a real workout. Wireless play is really incredible, especially the innovation that both players don't need to buy the same game in most cases, thanks to Download Play! It couldn't be easier to get a game started, and playing together is lots of fun (my Dad and I can vouch for that!). Playing over Wi-Fi is cool, too! The DS is super-popular in Japan, which means there are tons of incredible games that never see US shelves - but the DS is a region-free device! I love ordering Japanese games and increasing my language skills, and there are tons of education titles available, too. For me, the Japanese aspects of the DS make it even more exciting, since it's fun to be hooked into something so popular in current Japanese culture. The DS is heavily promoted in Japan, and it seems there are always new hilarious commercials coming out, which are ready to watch on Nintendo's Japanese website. Now we get to the good stuff, which is the incredible game selection! Innovative, unusual, character-driven and hilarious games are what the DS is all about, which is fantastic when you aren't a fan of the same old sports or shooter games. I especially love puzzle games (including adventure and mystery), and there are tons of them for the DS! Finally, the Nintendo DS is the only hand-held platform that can really make rhythm games (my favorite kind of game) feasible and fun! There are lots of these style games available from Japan, and I can't begin to add up the hours I've spent enjoying them! It's definitely true that games make the platform - so take a look at some past WEBmikey DS game reviews and convince yourself to join the DS revolution. Labels: games, life
Brain Boost: Gamma Wave / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
12.29.2006 10:25 PM \| Link 0 comments	I really didn't know much about the new Brain Boost games when I put them in my Amazon Wish List, but I always love thinking games (second only to rhythm games!). My pal Dae saw my list and sent me this game (plus a great CD) for Christmas, and I started playing it right away on the way to visit my parents for the holiday! This game is designed to develop your right brain, specifically your "photographic" memory, through five different activities. The idea is that images, colors, or numbers are presented to you at a speed that's too fast for your left brain to process them, so your right brain has to just "feel" what the right answer is! It's definitely interesting - at the slower speeds I tend to come up with a mnemonic (which is kind of cheating), but at the higher levels I have to try to do the right (pun intended) thing. Memorizing numbers is easiest (because I type a ton of ID numbers at work) and faces are fun, too, but color patterns can be tough! All of the games are presented with a little story including well-designed cartoon characters - they definitely add to the urge to keep trying to see how the game's story ends. Gamma Wave is a simple game, but still pretty interesting and fun - I wonder if my memory will really improve? Labels: games
Elite Beat Agents / Nintendo DS : 5 of 5
12.19.2006 9:04 PM \| Link 0 comments	Since I've played the amazing Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! for hours, I was thrilled to find out that a version was being created for the US called Elite Beat Agents. Of course, Santa gave it to me early for Christmas, and I've been having a blast playing it. I think they did a fantastic job completely re-imagining the game for American gamers, since the entire storyline and all of the graphics are completely new (along with all the songs, of course). Even though everything is new, the short manga-style stories still keep a nice Japanese feel (with super-deformed expressions and so on), but that's probably because 95% of the names on the credits are Japanese. The overall gameplay experience is great - I will always love rhythm games more than any other kind, and Elite Beat Agents is one of the best! The American song selection is pretty cool, and even songs that I'm not a big fan of are tons of fun to tap and drag with (Jumpin' Jack Flash in the game's finale is so fun!). The new characters are stories are nice and quirky, and include some cute anime girls, too. So far I've finished all the songs on the super-easy level, and I'm looking forward to playing the harder modes for more rhythm fun! Labels: games
Magnetica / Nintendo DS : 4 of 5
11.08.2006 10:22 PM \| Link 0 comments	I'm a sucker for puzzle games of almost any kind, especially if they look really cool, so I was ready to try Magnetica the moment I saw a few screen shots. I've read that this is a just a variation of a similar puzzle game, but it's definitely new to me! Basically, colored balls snake their way down a pathway, and the object is to fling other balls at the chain to keep them from reaching the end of the path, since groups of the same color go away. The "magnetic" idea comes into play because balls of the same color attract each other, so you can force portions of the chain to retreat if you plan things correctly. This all happens really fast, of course, but it's fun and addictive - at first it seemed nearly impossible, but soon I got the hang of it and started really enjoying myself. There's a basic Challenge Mode, where you have to complete 99 levels in a row, and also a Quest Mode, where you complete successive games, each with different pathway patterns and so on. Finally, there's a Puzzle Mode with specific mental challenges that really take some thinking. I really like the look of the game - it may be simple to animate colored balls, but the playfields have a cool metallic look. The music is nice, too, and doesn't get annoying (even when you are attempting to finish the same level over and over and over). Any game that makes me want to keep on playing it "one more time" is great, and that's a nice description of Magnetica. Labels: games
Clubhouse Games: 5 of 5
11.04.2006 8:36 AM \| Link 0 comments	I heard about this game several months ago when I was searching for new Nintendo DS puzzle games, so I've been waiting quite awhile for this one. I like to play quick card games on my Palm, so I thought it would be cool to have a collection of them for my DS, too. But soon after I started playing, I discovered that Clubhouse Games is so much more than I hoped for! This little cartridge has over 40 games on it, including lots of fun card games (of course), but also board games like chess and checkers, and also simple action games like bowling and billiards! The selection of games is really amazing, and it's fun to learn entirely new games (which is easy since the full rules for every game are included on-screen). Just about every little diversion game you can imagine is here, plus games that are "similar" (meaning knock-offs!) to other popular games. Besides having all these fun games available to play, there are also other extremely addictive ways to enjoy them by playing the Stamp and Mission modes. I absolutely love Stamp mode, which makes you play each game a certain number of times to earn stamps before you can continue to the next one, which is a great way to experience everything that's available. Mission mode has some difficult tasks to complete that unlock various icons in the game for some additional challenge. The graphics are really rich and fun (though these games aren't very fancy by nature), even though things seem a little small sometimes. For someone like me, Clubhouse Games is a Nintendo DS essential! Labels: games
DS is master
11.03.2006 10:59 PM \| Link 0 comments	I really like posting something on WEBmikey everyday, but I have to confess that sometimes I get lazy, which means I end up skipping a day or two and then "cheating" by back-posting to the days I missed. I'm only mentioning it now because I'm making up for three-days of missed posts (including this one)! What happened to that time? Nintendo DS happened, that's what! I recently took advantage of a great 3-for-2 sale on video games at Toys-R-Us, and the games I ordered arrived on Halloween night. Since then I've been playing in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening, completely neglecting everything else - I'm a total addict when I have some new games. I've been playing Star Fox Command, Magnetica, and Clubhouse Games, which are all really fun. I never dreamed I would be so obsessed with Clubhouse Games, but the "Stamp Mode" has really sucked me in, since I love to work through things sequentially toward a finish. Yesterday I forced myself to go without playing so I could catch-up on life a little, and I'm going to try to at least vary my activities today. Then I can get in some solid playing time guilt-free! Labels: games, life
Dance Dance Revolution Supernova / PS2 : 5 of 5
10.10.2006 10:32 PM \| Link 0 comments	At last the DDR drought is over with the latest official release from Konami, which is so much better than playing those lame knock-off games that I get sucked into! There's nothing like starting a fresh DDR release - checking out the new songs, new graphics, unlocking stuff, and trying to get A's on every song in every mode (even the boring easy stuff!). My biggest shock so far in DDR Supernova is the new dancers, who have all been re-created with really "human" moves - the new Emi character is so cute that I missed a bunch of steps the first time she was on-screen! There are also several songs with full motion video backgrounds, including old hits like Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles and Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper (and now I've seen that video at least 47 times). Several new concepts from DDR Extreme 2 have returned, such as the Shop where you buy (unlock) items with points you earn from dancing, but the new mission mode, now called Stellar Master Mode, is so much better. There are several tasks in checklists that you have to complete in each Stellar Joint (what a bizarre name), and then you can attempt to win a showdown for a VIP pass. The showdowns unfortunately include the weird tasks that I don't like - I hate being rewarded for playing "wrong" (such as complete this song, but never use the up arrow), but it's no big deal. Playing Stellar Master Mode puts new things in the Shop, and that's essential to keep unlocking new stuff. I can't wait to unlock Endless mode, but I think I have a lot of playing ahead of me! I don't think DDR will ever get old for me - I just hope Konami keeps it coming for years to come. Labels: ddr, games
Cooking Mama / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
9.29.2006 7:54 PM \| Link 0 comments	I love incredibly bizarre games that really push the limits of the typical genre, and Cooking Mama is definitely one of those games! Of course, this is a US translation of a popular Japanese game, and in fact, most of the dishes you can make are Japanese cuisine (but with English names, so takoyaki becomes "octopus dumplings", for example). All you do is choose the dish you want to make, and then you go through a series of steps, each one kind of like a timed mini-game, all using the touchscreen to full advantage. You may have to chop up onions, crack eggs, knead dough, or even follow precise instructions for stewing (stir now, lower the heat to medium, add next ingredient, stir again, raise heat to high, and so on)! Some of the tasks are kind of tough (peeling potatoes takes practice!), and a few do require some thought for non-cookers like me. When you have to cook a bunch of things in a skillet, you need to add things in the right order so they all finish around the same time, so maybe I'm learning something here! Every step is watched over by Mama, who will either praise you, or (when you burn the meat to a crisp) give you a glorious passive-aggressive "Don't worry, Mama will fix it" with flames in her eyes. There's around 70 recipes to make, from super-easy (instant ramen or a sandwich!) to really difficult, with lots of ingredients and steps. The graphics are fantastic (though the music can be annoying at times), and playing this game can definitely make you hungry! I'm not sure how much I will keep playing after I finish all of the dishes, but for now I'm enjoying my virtual kitchen. Labels: games
Rhythm Tengoku / GameBoy Advance : 5 of 5
9.26.2006 10:25 PM \| Link 0 comments	I play my Nintendo DS almost every day, but I have pretty much abandoned all of my old GameBoy Advance games, even though I can play them on my DS just fine. I never dreamed I would be buying another GBA cartridge, but when I read the reviews of Rhythm Tengoku, I just had to give it a shot, because there will never be enough rhythm games in the world for me! This is a relatively recent Japanese game, and it's kind of like combining Wario Ware mini-games with DDR-style beat accuracy. A large number of the games really only use a single button, but it's all about pressing that button right on the beat (and precision definitely counts)! There are tons of hilarious games, ranging from punching flower pots being thrown at you to shooting ghosts with a bow and arrow, to dancing robots and monkeys, and of course, whacking demons with a sword. You don't have to know Japanese to figure things out, but it makes it more fun for me! Lots of the games feature some unique Japanese culture, too, like making girls dance during a summer festival, or responding to some Japanese rap with certain patterns (based on the words just said). The games are organized into groups that you have to complete to unlock the next group, and each one ends with a cool "remix" where you play tiny pieces of each game combined into one song - it's a blast (and the music is great, too). There are some unlockable bonus games, too - my favorite has you matching the cool beats from a bunny drummer, and many of these are patterns I would have trouble playing on an actual kit! I can definitely see myself enjoying Rhythm Tengoku for a long time to come. Labels: games
Point Blank / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
9.19.2006 7:03 PM \| Link 0 comments	I'm always on the lookout for new Nintendo DS games, and sometimes I like games that are kind of quick, mindless and easy - fun to play for five minutes here and there. Point Blank definitely fits that description, since it's basically a kind of target shooting game where you simply tap the touch-screen to fire - there's no aiming or any other controls at all! I've had a lot of fun playing it, especially because there's lots of variety, since each round is a different type of mini-game. There are lots of different things you have to shoot within a specific time limit, like ducks, bees, skeletons, criminals (without hitting the civilians, of course), ninjas, and even fireworks! Some of the games require a little thinking, such as shooting the correct analog clock face to match a digital time (I'm actually pretty slow at that one!). Other games require some real precision, too - even though you're just tapping right on the place you want to hit, accuracy can be really important. You can play in Arcade mode, which picks four or eight games at random for you to complete, or Brain Massage mode, which just plays the same games and gives you a kind of intelligence score (which is pretty dumb). The graphics are really nice on most of the games, but definitely not spectacular - the whole thing seems just a little unpolished, but it's still pretty cool. If you're looking for something fun to play while you're waiting for your microwave dinner, Point Blank could be it! Labels: games
Dance Factory / PS2 : 2 of 5
9.14.2006 11:19 PM \| Link 0 comments	Such a tragic story - I remember seeing a magazine ad for Dance Factory back during the summer and instantly getting excited about every DDR maniac's "dream game". I'm sure everyone who plays as much as I do has hoped for the same thing - to be able to dance to any CD of music! Well, I survived the wait (including a couple of delays by the developers), and got the game - I had to buy it just to support the Bemani industry. Sadly, Dance Factory is more like Dance Frustration. There are some good points - the game does its job with generating dances for your own CDs, and the waiting time isn't too bad. Some of these dances are fun and the general graphic look of the game (which has to be fully loaded in PS2 memory) is fine with me. I really like Endurance mode, since it's fun to dance through a whole CD. OK, on to the bad stuff - the song analyzer is downright stupid (granted, I'm sure it's not an easy coding task). It tries to key off any prominent sound in the song, so anything with a syncopated beat can causing the timing to go wonky. Sometimes it guesses an incredibly slow beat for a fast song, and vice versa. It does an OK job with stuff like Kumi Koda and Heartsdales, but unfortunately can't deal with Morning Musume since their songs have so much going on that the waveform must be fairly even. But, even if I could forgive the bad dance timing, there's simply no accepting the switched arrow order - the up and down arrows are reversed from standard DDR, meaning that my well-trained brain who sees steps as pre-defined patterns naturally screws up. I can make the switch for the easier modes, but it's too much pain in Pro mode, which would be the most fun to play. Finally, I just have to say that the whole "creature" thing is a tremendous waste of code for the ugliest, most unnecessary feature ever included in a game. I would be twice as sad if DDR SuperNova wasn't just around the corner - I'll have some "real" fresh dancing soon! Labels: ddr, games