Wait…WHAT?!

This is by far one of the more awesome things to happen in a while. Seriously, major nostalgia trip.  I recall a great deal of time went into Xenogears, it was one of the few games that truly qualified as Epic.
Also, had a nice run in with Death earlier today. I’ve had a mucus build up in my lungs for a little over a week now, and after pulling some really heavy objects for about thirty minutes, I nearly passed out from asphyxiation. Quite fun.

Collecting Demon’s Souls

I would have liked to have heard the development team briefing the publisher on their idea for this game.
“We’re going to make an RPG. Only we’ll make it multi-player.”
“So… it will be a MMOPRG?”
“Exactly. Only with no people in it.”
“So… A regular single-player RPG then?”
“Exactly. Only with multi-player…”

It’s a fun game though. I can tell it will be pretty unforgiving. The game essentially revolves around death after all.   I especially enjoy exploring whilst reading the messages left by other “ghosts”, or better yet, watching their deaths when I happen across a bloodstain. Note to any readers: If you run across a room with more blood stains than floor tiles, you may in trouble.

Toad!

He was always such a lil’ bastard in Mario Kart.

Oh Kotaku…

How you amuse me so.  Kotaku released another collection of Bayonetta pics the other day (link).  The more I see of this game the more I dislike it, but I’ll get to that another time.  At some point under the collection of rants about how ugly/hot the main character looked, I stated that I didn’t give a shit about this game, in not so many words.   Coming back to the site after I awoke some hours later, I was apparently banned for it.  Now, I’m not given to crude statements frequently, but considering the tone of the thread, as well as the over-abundance of sexual references, innuendos and insinuations, I don’t see how the words, “Color me I don’t give a shit” really constitute a banning. Seriously, here are some of the gems scattered throughout:  “your ‘wife’ will not let you play this??? Grow a pair douche and slap that bitch straight”;  “it will make any penis look huge”;  “I COULD NEVER LIVE WITH MY HAIR TUCKING ITSELF UNDER MY FANNY AND CURVING UP BETWEEN MY BUTTOCKS. Bayonetta is one unhygienic bitch! Imagine getting vaginal discharge on your face! Geeeez….”; and of course “I think we need more pussy in games; and more dick, for that matter. I love mine, it’s great! And I love cunts, so why would I not want them in games?!”.
Intellectual discourse at its finest.
Moving on, I’ve been a little busy lately, but in between redundant duties I’ve been trying to finish Oblivion, and also had time to try Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which is a fine game by any standard.  Considering the release list in the coming months it seems I’ll have a lot on my plate, and thats not even including the books I’d like to/need to read.

Tokyo Game Show

This is a pretty big event, and simply Googling it will give anyone something they can drool over. However, as I was bored one evening, I started one of Major’s Minute videos on X-Box live, in which they were highlighting the 360’s show floor. It was during this video, that they eventually scanned over Sega’s portion of the floor, and I saw a booth with a large image of Mia from Lunar. Now, I had heard there was another remake of that classic in the works, but for PSP. What it was doing in the 360’s show floor, I don’t know, but it fills me with this strange, warm sensation.
I also saw a poster for Ninety-Nine Nights 2, which should make Gourry giddy.

Wet came in the other day, yet I’ve been so focused on completing Oblivion (late again) that I haven’t really touched it. Considering what’s coming out on the horizon, I think my time is in terrible danger.

Also: http://screwattack.com/brentalfloss/zelda_is_hot

Wet? Little Damp Maybe…

I’ve seen a few things on upcoming video game Wet by Bethesda over the past months. It seemed interesting, but not really mind blowing. The initial turn-off was only noticing their inspiration was Tarantino. I don’t like his movies too much. However, the game seems to go beyond that, and if that wasn’t enough to warant a purchase, Gamestop had a $10 off special for a pre-order. Coupled with this handy $10 off code I have, it seems like a nice distraction.

Yatta!

Finally beat Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine today. Yes, I’m behind on the times, but that was a rough one.

Comedy Gold

This was hilarious.
via Kotaku.

Meeehhhh….

This was amusing, and a perfect mirror of my feelings for that particular species.
Lately I’ve been in a strange drive to finish up a lot of things I’ve been leaving undone.  I cant’ really explain why, but its consumed me, and it doesn’t purely pertain to hobbies either.  I just finished staying up 6 hours past my usual sleep session to finish painting a room in the house.  Why?  I have no idea…
Of course, in hobby terms, this means applying myself to get 100% completion on a lot of games I have laying around.  In most cases, this isn’t so bad, because a few I’ve left undone because I wanted to go back through them.  A few though, can be a little irritating.  Full Gamerscore on Left 4 Dead ranks really damn problematic, as does Street Fighter 4’s Trials, which, I have yet to see anyone finish.  Still, I think the most annoying for me will be, of all things, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1.  Its not that it was hard or anything, but,the three Achievements I had left were the ones for finding all the hidden art, not letting anyone die, and not using healing items on the last boss.  Why does this irritate me?  Well, because I had played all the way to the last boss without dying, and was planning on finishing my “Easter Egg Hunt” the next day when I had more time.  So, I just gave the Boss a whirl to see what it was like, ended up beating him without even trying, though I let two characters die in the process, but hey, I didn’t care.  I didn’t realize it would auto-save over my file immidiately.  That kind of peeved me.
Regardless, I can’t help but think this completionist obsession phase is a little unhealthy.  Granted, I have nothing much better to do at the time, but it seems a lot of work for nothing when I sit back an look at it.  I guess I’m stupid.
While I’m still chaining thoughts together in my sleep-deprived state of mind, I’d like to throw a brief rant out there about the existence of Achievements in the first place.  First of all, why should most of us bother?  Granted, there are a few obsessive-compulsives who live off extending their GS, and people like me who use GS as a measurement for finishing a game, but what use is it to anyone else?  Or the previous two for that matter?  Optional limited downloads granted per every so much GS maybe?  Anything?  At least if the numbers meant something there might be some justification in the way certain developers train us to jump through hoops.  I understand that people feel that achievements need to be earned- its in the name-, but theres a line between a fun challenge and a tedious chore.  There are very  few games on Live that have honestly fun Achievements.  /rant
On another note, been looking forward to the release of the Metroid Prime series on the Wii.  I never picked up the third one, so this is quite nice for me.  And on a final note, I saw this the other day, and knew I was seeing the next art piece for my game room.  If you’re not in the know, thats Fatima, the Shadow Frost Witch from Luminous Arc 2.  That was a game that seemed rather unremarkable at first, but somehow character attachement reall sneaks up on you.
Good grief that was a long post, I need to stop blogging when I’m tired.

Ghostbusters

I downloaded the demo for this a few days back. On my next trip to the outside world I returned with the full game. Is it an incredibly awesome game? No, not really. But, for anyone who grew up watching it (or recalls the big-screen release fondly) it is fantastic as a sequel. The writing alone made this worth purchasing for me, and the game itself is fun too.
On a side note, and this is somewhat old news, but the next installment of Ys was announced for the PSP. Ys is one of my top 3 favorite game series of all time, so this was big news to me. There were quite a few games that, as a young whelp, enraptured me and filled a significant portion of my time, but Ys was one of those that stood out for me. I recall wishing ever so much for someone like Working Designs (R.I.P.) to start localizing the series. While there was a DS release for 1 and 2 (which was nice), I’m still hoping for a more driven and encompassing facelift, something that will say: “This is why we were great, and this is why we will be.”  When the Playstation Network and X Box Arcade were created, I began fostering hope that the platforms would see a torrent of remakes and resurgences, thanks to the reduced cost of marketing. :/