Apparently, terrorist bomb experts have figured out how to make detonating devices out of Sega Genesis game chips.
True story: Back when I was a teenager and had a Sega CD (side-by-side model), I took it with me on a plane trip to see my relatives. Because I didn’t trust the bag throwers, I took it with me in my carry-on bag. I ran it through the X-ray machine and security pulled me aside. (Keep in mind, this is in 1995 and before the big 9/11 changes.)
They went digging through my bag and pulled the Sega CD out, asking what it was. What had most caught their attention was the thick metal plate that slips between the Genesis and Sega CD, which lit up on the X-ray machine’s screen like a light bulb. I explained to them that it was just a video game–I even disassembled and reassembled the combined devices for them–and thankfully they let me go on my way.
This weekend I grabbed a copy of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law for the PSP with the hopes that it would fill the void left behind after the last Ace Attorney game. Harvey Birdman succeeds in this, offering near-identical game mechanics but with an Adult Swim setting.
The game stays faithful to the show, recreating it’s Flash-like animation, oddball humor, and cast of obscure Hanna Barbara characters. The entire voice acting cast was involved, with exception of Stephen Colbert (it’s not like he’s busy working on anything else). However, they did snare Louis Black to voice one of the villains.
If there’s one thing I can say about this game that’s disappointing, it’s that it’s short. I offer no exaggeration when I say that if you started the game on a fully-charged battery, you could finish it before the power light turned red. I understand that there’s a lot of expensive work involved since you’re essentially making interactive episodes of the cartoon and that the UMD disc only has so much room for all those audio files, but if you’re going to list this game in the same price range as any other new release, I’m going to ask for more than just a few hours of gameplay.
The game does try to offer replay value in the form of unlockable content. There are many instances in the game where you’re asked a multiple choice question. You’re free to choose any of the two incorrect ones without penalty for a quick laugh, but only choosing the correct answer will progress the scene. One of these instances will have an incorrect answer that triggers a bit involving a cameo from a Street Fighter character. Find those and you unlock a video clip that you can access from the main screen.
Similarly, you can earn lost points of your health meter if you answer specific questions while holding items that may otherwise appear to be useless. Unfortunately, you won’t really know what those items are until the end of the episode and also have to remember what items you never used.
A bonus feature that I wish they’d included is the ability to watch all of the animated segments tied together as if it were an actual Harvey Birdman episode. That way, we may not be left with much replay value, but at least we’d have something that would be worth watching a few times after solving all the cases.
I bought my copy of the game for $9.99 and I wouldn’t recommend paying any more than that. If they released it on the PlayStation Store for $5.99, I’d call it an even better deal. It was fun and gave me some good laughs, but it was just too short.
About a year or so ago, I picked up Disgaea: Hour Of Darkness for PS2, but I’ve yet to finish it. How can I? It’s a game that I boast of being the most economically sensible game, since you could potentially play it forever.
If you’ve heard of Disgaea, then you’ve also probably heard of its reputation for being able to enter and level up from within each and any item that comes into your possession. With infinite items to acquire, infinite potential characters to develop, and a level cap of quad-9, you can see how Disgaea is a grinder’s wet dream realized.
What has saved me from this trap up until now? I had to be at home to play on my PS2. Thanks to my new PSP and the gift of Disgaea: Afternoon Of Darkness, this restriction has been lifted. I may continue on my PS2 version to work my way through Prince Laharl’s story arc at home, saving time to explore Etna’s alternative plot line while abroad.
Yet owning two copies of the same infinitely progressing game is not what makes my situation absurd. I now have cause to pick up a third version, that being the DS port. I’d toyed with the idea of my sister and I both getting the DS version to take advantage of the multiplayer modes (since she only has a DS), but now that I hear that my girlfriend got the DS version for Christmas, I may have to give this more consideration.
By this upcoming year’s end, I’m sure I’ll have accumulated three versions of the same game that each have infinite play potential. This is also not counting the copy of Disgaea 2 that I’ve yet to start! And yet I also yearn to try Disgaea 3 once I finally get a PS3 and plan to grab the Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero spin-off due out next year.
I haven’t been this insane over buying multiple versions of a game since the Lunar series. God, I miss Lunar…
Remember that post I made about how fickle gamers are and how they ask for sequels filled with dumb shit? Well, here’s some proof for my pudding:
Street Fighter IV just came out and fans are already pining over Street Fighter V. Can’t we just be happy that we ever got a SF4??
If your bounty of shitty ideas didn’t make it into SF4, don’t expect them to make it into SF5. Here’s a clue: Why didn’t any of those ideas make it into SF4? Because they’re shitty. I’m so happy that Capcom only listens to its smart fans.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been deeply enjoying my new toy, that being my PSP and I’m eager to begin building my library of games. I’ve been diving deep into the available demos, seeing if some of the games are as fun as they’ve sounded.
One game that had caught my curiosity is Patapon. I had no idea that it was a rhythm game, having no knowledge of the game other than the title (and that some people seemed to like it). It would be unfair to call this game a test of my own rhythm because I, in fact, have none. Just a few beats in and a couple “ba-doink” error sounds into the game, I was ready to smash my new PSP into a wall. For my own health (and the sake of my PSP), I deleted the demo.
Then this past weekend, I was visiting my girlfriend at her apartment when she received a phone call from her family. I knew it was going to be a full conversation, so I pulled out my PSP to pass the time. Somewhat bored of my current demo selection, I re-downloaded (via the WiFi) Patapon in order to give it another shot.
Before you could declare “shame on me”, my girlfriend returned and I offered the game for her to try. To my surprise, she immediately fell in love with it. She got the hang of it a lot quicker than I had; singing along with its repetitious chants. I found myself having to look away from time to time, since I would vicariously grow angry with the game every time she’d missed a beat. She played on until a rival Zigoton tribe killed her with axes.
I get the feeling that much like I did with the Buffy The Vampire Slayer game for PS2, I may be buying games for my girlfriend to play on my own consoles.
I got my PSP last week and I’m very happy with it! Regarding the screen issues that have been been discussed about the 3000 model, I would say don’t believe the hype. I can see the scan lines and distortions that people are talking about, but I really have to look for them to see them. Otherwise, the screen is gorgeous. It’s so clear that my eyes strain a bit because my brain thinks that I’m watching a PS2 game on a full-sized TV from a distance, rather than a small screen up close.
In the week I’ve had it, I’ve barely played any games on it. Neither the pack-ins (Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters and the National Treasure 2 movie) really tickle my fancy, so I’m thinking of selling those off. ($10 each for anyone here who wants them!) I also had bought Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, but have only played an hour’s worth. So far, I’m agreeing with David Smith’s assessment of the battle system. Though I doubt it will hinder my enjoyment, being the lover of FFVII that I am.
What I’ve been doing instead is exploring all the nifty bells & whistles my new toy has. First squee: Free stuff! I’ve been downloading demos like crazy. What’s better is finding sites that host Japanese demos or older ones no longer available on PSN. The Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law demo was fun; filling a void left behind from the last “Ace Attorney” game. It’s difficult to accuse the Harvey Birdman game from ripping off AA, since they’re both made by Capcom. Loco Rocco is cute, but harder than I was expecting. I may end up passing on it. I’m all about some Echochrome and Extreme Space Invaders, though! I’ll be picking those up soon.
I was so excited to find that there’s a demo available for the upcoming Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero game, but my heart sank when I discovered that you can only get it through Japan’s PSN and if I were to download it, my entire American account and licenses would be voided. I’ll just have to wait until a demo or the full game is released stateside. Ah, well…
Speaking of PSN, I had to catch myself from making some hasty purchases when I’d first logged in. I nearly jumped at buying both Street Fighter Alpha and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but had to remind myself that I’d already planned on buying the UMDs for Street Fighter Alpha 3 (the pinnacle of the series) and Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (which contains an unlockable SotN). But for that moment, I was at a moral crossroad, since I’m one of the biggest advocates for tangible media. I will admit, I am warming up to digital distribution, but still only under the right conditions (price, title, user license, etc).
It will be a while before I start up a library of PSP games. I forbid myself to buying anything for myself during the entire month of December, pending the holidays. It’s just as well since I still have to finish Chrono Trigger and then dive into “Crisis Core”. Those two, along with the demos I’ve collected should keep me plenty occupied for the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I’m also figuring out which TV and anime series that I want to convert to watch on my PSP while I hit the gym. And since October, I am in need of hitting the gym! To test out my converting software and to help show off my new toy to Ashley, I installed this little gem onto the PSP. My software has a feature that I like where it adjusts the screen to match the PSP’s aspect ratio, but I’m worried that subtitles on some anime I have may be cropped out. But tinkering is part of the fun!
It’s a holiday classic… You give someone a gift that appears really crappy, but when they open it further, it turns out to be totally awesome! You psyched them out but they came out as the winner in the end.
The video below is an example of the opposite. A family plays a mean joke on a little boy; making him think that he’s scored an Xbox 360, when in fact the box is filled with clothes. They proceed to mock the boy as his eyes well with tears. I find this act of cruelty to be indefensibly despicable.
The fact that this involved a video game is circumstantial. I fully believe his mother (or whomever’s female voice that is) that the boy knew that his family couldn’t afford to buy him something that expensive. But when he tore into that wrapping paper and saw that logo on the box (you can see that exact moment), that boy thought he’d experienced a true Christmas miracle. He’d had his heart set on this one thing only to have his own blood use it to ridicule him.
And that’s what gets me the most. There was no apology or remorse from his family. They continued to make fun of him for wanting the 360. As an adult, your values change, but when you’re a little kid, material things like that can mean the world to you. By mocking this boy, his family essentially told him that his dreams are a joke. And in turn, he was a joke for having such dreams.
I seriously hope this comes back to haunt them. Shitheads.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been deeply enjoying my new toy, that being my PSP and I’m eager to begin building my library of games. I’ve been diving deep into the available demos, seeing if some of the games are as fun as they’ve sounded.
I got my PSP last week and I’m very happy with it! Regarding the 
I was so excited to find that there’s a demo available for the upcoming Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero game, but my heart sank when I discovered that you can only get it through Japan’s PSN and if I were to download it, my entire American account and licenses would be voided. I’ll just have to wait until a demo or the full game is released stateside. Ah, well…