Scratch it!

Now that my primary PC game fix is down, I'm looking around for something else. Here's a great game that I found through Insert Credit. It's called Skratch It! (sic) which is a scratch/buzz shmup-like freeware game which takes the level up mechanics of the Psyvariar shmup series and puts you in the pit of bullets with no way to fire back. All is not bad though because you can buzz your way to invincibility. Because you use your mouse it takes some getting used to (from the shmup perspective) but it's a fast paced game. Also it tires your hands and wrists out just trying to get all the scratching in. You see, you get a bonus the faster you move your mouse, and I don't mean just a gradual acceleration. Get frantic. Ow my hand! This is a great way to practice your shmup dodging skills.

And your character, which resembles a sun like spiky ball with shifty eyes, is too cute! Haha.

Pay up time

I started up UT2004 and proceeded to connect to Disastrous Consequences only to get the "your IP is banned" message. Since I didn't get the memo, I emailed the admin hoping to get clarification. Maybe this is their new way of getting donations? I took a look at the pricing and it's USD 120.00 a year. That's not too bad given my current gaming budget.

I see only vibrating purple (Mushihime-sama)

I finally opened Mushihime-sama after getting it 4 days ago. What can I say, UT2004 has a hold on me. Before buying it, I saw at Gamers that they had a special telephone card (gallery picture number 7) if I bought it there. But I went back to Sofmap where I pre-ordered it and checked the pre-order omake. It came with a poster (ugh, I don't need any more) and a Sofmap-only telephone card (stage 1 end picture, gallery picture number 28 but colored in). I'm pretty ashamed that I was willing to throw away the 500 yen pre-order at one shop, because I forgot what goodies it came with. Lame.

So after playing a hour or two of Mushihime-sama, I can definately say I like the Arrange mode better.  I know I said I like games that whip me, but I've been playing games recently that go easy. That UT2004 DC Invasion RPG is one. So is Arrange mode, because it seems easier than Arcade mode. Think of it as Arcade mode, sugar coated. It gives you 6 Formation Options, on-the-fly changable weapons, and auto-bomb, with Maniac mode. The bullet patterns seem the same from the Arcade mode. With all of this I can get to Stage 5, up to the middle. Totally difficult, but my best score is 72,710,412.

Here's a mini-review by points by good (+) and bad (-):

• + Yoko and tate screen orientation.
• + Slowdown seems to be the same as arcade.
• + Shot, Auto-shot, Rapid shot, Rapid auto-shot button definable.
• + Multiple buttons can be set to function (Square and X set to bomb, for instance)
• + Gallery with concept and new finished pictures (to me at least).
• - Button config depends on the mode (Arcade or Arrange), it is not shared.
• - No stage music player. (But the arcade soundtrack is available)
• - No sample replay or replay-data save.
• - DVD is seeking while in the middle of a stage.

One thing that annoys me with the game itself is that I don't know how big my hit box is and I don't know how big the bullet hit box is. I've blindly gone through a bullet storm without a scratch on me, even though I was sure to be hit. But all in all this game is enjoyable. I like this game and I hope Cave makes more shmups with this concept.

Deceive

Take a look at this optical illusion. Do you trust your eyes in the real world? I spent about 5 minutes looking at it but I couldn't figure it until I read the answer in the comments. But even then I still couldn't believe it.

Unreal fret

I had to fix up my UT2004 game install because I'm running out of space. I moved the CBP1, CBP2, and Classics 2k4 Re-make map packs over to another drive (all ZIP installs). It got me to thinking, how should I tweak the UT2004.ini so that the Ogg Vorbis music also plays correctly from there? Shortcuts and adjusting the "Paths" doesn't work. Actually, multiple "MusicPath" entries work. Great! I was going to complain about programmers doing incomplete work but UT gets even this part right.

I also have think about rebinding my keys for DC. I'm typing "tossartifact" too often. All I have to do to do that is to install this Official UT2004RPG .ut4mod file and it shows up in the Settings -> Input -> Configure Controls sub menu. Great!

Now that this is an UT2004 post, might as well add more related UT topics. Like a link to Unreal Playground. They have good map downloads. But the last time I logged into the forum was: "2002/09/25 at 07:09 PM " Wow. The memories.

That UT Classics 2k4 Re-make map pack has most of the memorable UT99 music, but in OGG Vorbis format. I can't use that in my iPod so I converted them (dbPowerAmp Music Converter and dBPowerAMP Ogg Vorbis codec). Hearing "Forgone" (the music for the venerable CTF-Face "Facing Worlds") clearly without all the sniper shots and rockets and "I got the flag" was very refreshing.

PSP 2P color and moves (Ceramic White and 2.0 firmware)

I just saw this on Engadget. Sony is planning to bring out the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in a ceramic white color with new 2.0 firmware. By itself, this doesn't tempt me that much but at least it matches my iPod. Here are the major features of the according to Watch Impress, and my quick translation. I highlight the important features to me:

Version 2.00 update info 【バージョン 2.00 アップデート内容】

Network [ネットワーク]

• Built-in Web browser (with adjustable limitation of startup functionality) インターネットブラウザを追加(起動制限を行なうことも可能)

Video [ビデオ]

• "Jump" function added to UMD VIDEO/MUSIC ジャンプ機能を追加(UMD VIDEOおよびUMD MUSIC)
• "A-B repeat" function added to UMD VIDEO/MUSIC, Memory Stick Audio A-Bリピート機能を追加(UMD VIDEO、UMD MUSIC、メモリースティック デュオに保存された動画)
• Aspect ratio 4:3 added for Memory Stick Video. 画面モード機能に4:3を追加 (メモリースティック デュオに保存された動画)
• Voice track change function added for Memory Stick Video. 音声切りかえ機能を追加(メモリースティック デュオに保存された動画)
• Added MP4(AVC) to playable Memory Stick Video formats. 再生できるファイルの種類にMP4(AVC)を追加(メモリースティック デュオに保存された動画)

Music [ミュージック]

• Transfer of ATRAC3 plus format music files from SonicStage 3.2 (PC software) to Memory Stick Pro Duo is supported. 「SonicStage バージョン3.2」(公開予定)以降との組み合わせで、「メモリースティック PRO デュオ」にATRAC3 plus形式の音楽ファイルが転送可能に
• Added MP4(AAC), WAVE(Linear PCM) to playable Memory Stick Audio formats. 再生できるファイルの種類にMP4(AAC)、WAVE(Linear PCM)を追加

Photo [フォト]

• Added a wallpaper function 壁紙機能を追加
• Added a photo transfer function (send and receive) 画像の送受信機能を追加
• Added TIFF, GIF, PNG, and BMP format support. 表示できるファイルの種類にTIFF、GIF、PNG、BMPを追加。

Settings [設定]

• Added support for Korean language. [本体設定]の[表示言語]に韓国語を追加
• Added setting for "Character Set". [本体設定]に[文字セット]を追加
• Added "Theme setting" [テーマ設定]を追加
• Added security setting for limiting browser usage [セキュリティ設定] に[インターネットブラウザ起動制限]を追加
• Added WPA-PSK(TKIP) security method for (wireless) networking [ネットワーク設定]のセキュリティ方式にWPA-PSK(TKIP)を追加
• Added Web input support to the (software) keyboard input mode. キーボードの入力モードにWeb入力支援を追加

First off, there's a built-in Web browser function. No more need for silly hacking of the Wipeout Pure. Now you can read most web pages in any comfortable place in your wireless LAN enabled house. Great! Wait, is the font (English or Japanese) on the PSP any good? What is the DPI? I already have this type of functionality (although offline) with my Palm-compatible Sony Clie TJ-25, though.

As you may recall, the PSP 1.x firmware had a network security problem which in simple terms, could lower the barrier to enter your home wireless LAN because the PSP only supports an oudated communications scheme (WEP). This problem is mitigated with the WPA-PSK(TKIP) communications scheme.

Other than that, you can customize your PSP with a new "wallpaper" and "theme", something like skinning your UI like Windows Themes, I suppose. I change the color and wallpaper of my PCs and Clie display often, so I like this feature.

Because I don't have a PSP, I don't know what more I would want. This seems like a pretty good list of features. But it's sad that the first generation didn't have them at the outset.

I suppose Sony raised the bar for disabling cracks and mods. I'm not too worried about not having emulation on the PSP. I don't have a "modded" console and I have a Windows PC. If anything I'd like to play Ninja Gaiden (1 and 2) for the NES, but I suppose I can already do that on my PC and Xbox's Ninja Gaiden.

Passing of a great (James Montegomery "Beam me up, Scotty" Doohan)

I only heard this through Slashdot, but it's sad. Actor James Doohan, one of my main draws to Star Trek: The Original Series as Montgomery Scott, has passed away. As a Trekkie/Trekker (Star Trek fan), his attitude towards fixing problems has been an inspiration to me. Truly an American icon (even though he's Canadian). I mean, who hasn't ever seen a bumper sticker on a car with the catch phrase "Beam me up, Scotty!" It's too bad I've never seen him in the flesh at a Star Trek convention. The only person I saw was Marina Sirtis, who was pretty cool as well.

Forgive me if I don't remember his lines correctly, but the lines I remember/like from him:

• "I canna change the laws of physics."
• "Aye."
• "I know this ship like the back of my hand." (Smacks into a bulkhead.)
• "Computer." (holding Macintosh mouse while speaking into it) "You use your hands." "How quaint." (Cracks his fingers then programs the formula for Transparent Aluminum(TM) in what looks like a HyperCard frenzy.)

Now I'm in the mood to see some ST. Maybe get some of the movies. Heh.

Can you hear me now?

I've been playing that disastrousconsequences.com UT2004 Invasion DruidsRPG for a lot more hours. In fact, it was the only thing on my mind for the last week. Heh.

First off, I bought a headset microphone so that I could voice chat quickly and easily. Typing wasn't necessary in the regular ONS games I used to play, but there's a social trade aspect to DC that I wanted to get into. So I bought the Logicool Stereo Headset (A-332). Now, if I have weapons to give out, I can announce it without too much delay. But, it's a hassle when the mic doesn't work after 2 hours of play. Why is that?

I'm up to level 27 now with abilities Vampiric +1 (regain health on hit damage * 5%) and Regen +1 (regain health 1 HP per second). I'm trying to get Resupply +1 (resupplies ammo at 1 piece every 5 seconds.) One thing I notice is that even all the beefed-up characters aren't "gods", they still have to struggle to bring down the heavies. So it's not boring if you max out your stats.

However, it does get kinda boring fighting the same monsters and same attack patterns. In fact, probably my Onslaught vehicle skills and Deathmatch skills are probably atrophying. Fighting the Titans who throw rocks reminds me of crap-flinging monkeys for some reason. However, the rocks aren't part of any physics model and they just sail straight through the air ignoring gravity. How unnatural is that? One really annoying thing is the silent but deadly Shield Gun Nalis. They chase you like daleks across the screen and bust you with more than 50 HP damage on contact. And you can't hear when they're coming because they're relatively small. I've grown fearless of queens, though. 8 Flac hits at point blank range does it to them, and sometimes I even run right next to them so I don't miss (this is potentially a suicide move).

I have to revise my level upgrade schedule. It probably takes 1 week to go up 3 levels. I'm at 27 right now, and the other people are around 50. That means a couple of months of somewhat tedious XP crawling. I have to play on weekdays nights so that the good players don't take my potential XP. And for what? It seems I'm trying to find reasons to stop playing this game type.

A weekend of distractions.

I'm supposed to be finishing up the Hatsukoi I bought two weeks ago. I'm supposed to be basking in the wonder that is Everybody Loves Katamari Damashii. I'm supposed to be having more-than-gaming fun with my new Nintendo DS. But what did I play last weekend?

Unreal Tournament 2004

I found a new addictive game type. Well, it's nothing new, it's just Invasion crossed with RPG elements, available at disastrousconsequences.com (ut2004://208.186.100.30:7777). I've built my character up to level 17 but I still die easily. Most people are above level 50. Perhaps it will take a couple of weekends to get there. What's so fun about it? Well the enemies are dumb, but they are strong. But you also get strong weapons, that is, if your luck is good. Plus the players trade their weapons readily. "Who needs flac +5 healing." "I've got vampiric shock +4" "I've got freezing +3 redeemer" "null energy shock +7" etc. Nothing builds camaraderie faster than swaping weapons and watching each other's back.

I'm working to get my first power up, which is vampiric. Sucks off 5% * level for any damage you inflict. After that I need to get regen, and other stuff I've seen on other players. This really isn't RPG, but something like stats based rewards system. RPG is such an overloaded word now.

While I'm at it, id and their games jumped the shark. Kotaku links to someone who declares that id lost its crown. id has been in my formative FPS years, but ever since Unreal Tournament back in 1999, there's no love lost. UT all the way, baby!

Now moving into 2004 (Nintendo DS Pokemon Mew)

I did this weekend's shopping today. 1 non-standard Nintendo DS Pokemon Mew, 3 non-games, and 2 carrying cases with 1 screen overlay. Yes, I'm ready to take the Nintendo DS plunge.

I decided to get those 3 non-games: Make Your Head Hurt, Play with Dogs, and Play with Music. I had to get something non-mainstream to justify playing around with a Nintendo DS. Then I got 2 cases, one that is a Nintendogs logo for the Nintendo DS and games, and the other which is a Pokemon themed cloth cover called the SP Pokegurumi that fits your GBASP tightly. I got the Plus character because Pikachu didn't look as cute.

I had to search the Internet to make sure I could charge it with the same GBASP USB port charger, so I could get it on. Yes it is possible. Wow you even can charge a PSP off of USB power. Great! Welcome to portable gaming in the year 200x!

Well I haven't opened anything else yet, but I will. I just finished gaming some UT2004 with some online friends (beserk mode is crazy, but let's go for Excessive Overkill, m'kay?), and I need to catch some Zzzs.

(Edit: changed titles to more correct names, and more)

This week's whimsical list

I just wanna write this down now:

• School Rumble スクールランブル 〜姉さん事件です！〜 (PSP-jp)
• Burnout Revenge (PS2-jp)
• Burnout Legends (PSP-jp)
• Star Soldier (PSP-jp)
• Gunstar Heroes (PS2-jp)
• Galaxy Force II (PS2-jp)
• Last Bronx (PS2-jp)
• D.C. F.S. 〜ダ･カーポ〜フォーシーズンズ  (PS2-jp)

Games I'm considering to buy.

Thanks to Majoria's News and Weekly Famitsu magazine for the info.

Hana

Was Everybody Loves Katamari Damashii worth it?

Are you kidding?

Flower stage.

Hell yeah.

^_^

Let's get rolling (Everybody Loves Katamari Damashii)

Was able to get out of work with the quickness and I grabbed KD2. It came with cell phone buzzer cutesy thing.

Gotta play now, bye bye!

Fun things to watch at the shop

I was hoping to pickup Minna Daisuki Katamari Damashii one day early but it wasn't at get-it-one-day-early Sofmap. No, they had a sign for the sold out Gundam license of the month. (Let me profess my disinterest in plainer terms?) I had to console myself with some DVD purchases, Air disc 4 and 8 Mile. (Hey one of my friends said it was actually pretty good and I trust her opinion on music.) About the only other DVD things that caught my eye was the tenth anniversary of Shawshank Redemption DVD release in collector's tin. Only for a cool 10,000 yen. Ah, did I like the movie that much? Not for the full 15 seconds I held the tin, no.

One thing great about shops is that promotional items, which for all intents and purposes is just junk, are freely given out when the promotion ends. Take for example, this Pac Pix promotional control stylus. Free for all the scavengers in the game flyer corner. The first time I saw it I said I'm not going to get the game, so why get this toy? But I snagged it anyway. Demo DVDs stacked high, but I passed on them. It's like dumpster diving.

The weekend plan is to pick up that Pokemon Mew Nintendo DS, that Electroplankton, get that new Katamari Damashii, and just try the hell to forget about the insurmountable crushing reality that is ... real life.

You should have got a PS2 (Gunstar Heroes)

Eventually, you will get a Sony PS2, you die hard Sega fanboy. Everything good comes to the PS2. Don't fight it. Check it. Spong reports that the Sega Ages rehash series for the PS2 is getting a major Treasure in the form of Gunstar Heroes. I suppose you could either try to find the original game on a online auction site, get the remake Gameboy Advanced, or get this rehash coming to the PS2. I can't decide which one to get, the GBA one or now the PS2 one. I like playing games on a bigger screen, thanks.

Well, this information is from Spong, which I don't trust that much, but they quoted it from the Famitsu magazine. Do they have somebody leaking information before it hits the newsstands? Or was it in last week's issue? In the same article they mention Panzer Dragoon as well. Shooters delight.

Now... if they announced that Sega Ages series will include Radiant Silvergun, legions of fans everywhere will be decrying Treasure a rehash sell out. And those used RS discs will plummet below USD 100.00, I'm sure. But wouldn't you like to get that instead?

Edit: Insert Credit tells us why our dream won't come true.

YOU GET TO BURNING

One reason I like Japan is the Engrish. (You can also call it Jangrish, or if you wanna be crude, Japlish). Figure this:

YOU GET TO BURNING

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA.

I mean! It's an anime song by the famous pair called Angela! They were at the Starchild Dream concert in Kobe 2003 and 2004, and they rock hard! This song is for one of those Mobile Suit Gundam anime series, I don't care which!

What does it mean? I ponder? Is it an incantation? Is it a warning? It's it like one of those level up status messages?

YOU GET TO BURNING
2005.09.07 OUT

Tattoo this on your body!?

I wanna believe

Didn't Parappa the Rapper say something like that? Or was it, "I gotta believe!?" 1up.com writes the human story behind that Nintendo On phenomenon (thanks Engadget). One man, a Spanish artist, created that Nintendo On video teaser that set at least my imagination on fire before this year's E3. Nintendo could come out ahead of the Sony juggernaut?! For a time it was plausible. One thing I learned from the article was that he lost most of his work due to a hard drive crash. Hm. Get a RAID 1 or 5, gosh darnit. If you are a content artist, please please please get some stable computer tools.

Red white and blue, breakout!

It's July 4th, but not in my time zone. That means I need to wave a U.S. flag or something. How about a game with red, white, blue colors? That should get me in the patriotic mood. Nah. Wonderland links directly to a Pepsi promotional game in the U.K. called Max Breakout (Flash required) that surely will beat your nerves senseless with its difficulty. It's how to go from stolid to stomping crybaby in one minute, for sure.

Second time around isn't so spectacular. (Hatsukoi First Kiss)

I started playing Hatsukoi First Kiss (初恋 ファイストキス) for the PS2 over the weekend. Actually this will be second time I'll be doing this read-em-up. I completed the Anzu Hatsushima (初島杏) scenario, and it wasn't so interesting the second time around.

When they made it for the PS2, they kept some of the original dialogue, and 99% of the time we hear that. But the other 1% of the time is something muffled, and the voice sounds totally different.Talk about destroying the mood. Also, there is no voice talent credits. For me, it's important to know which seiyuu did the acting. In fact, they go out of their way to hide them here. Why is that? (They do show credits on the character page, though. I've never heard of these people.)

As far as the fourth hour impression goes, it seems like they didn't add anything to this game. Such is a pity.

Google Earth for fun and games

I am having entirely too much fun playing around with this Google Earth June Beta. (And if you haven't downloaded yours yet, I'm sure it's still available somewhere.) This post will be about the intricacies of geo-pr0n. (Download my "tour of Japan" bookmark file, gearth-jptour.kmz)

Check out this picture representing the path and distance from my home to Nipponbashi "Den-den town" here in Japan. It's about 35 km and it takes about 65 minutes by train, one way. Kobe is on the left with green dot. Nipponbashi is on the right near the Osaka on the path line. Among the great features of the Google Earth is the ability to measure a path, and though it's hard to see it, show elevation information.

Also, one other killer feature is linking information from external sources, such as map images and photos (such as Geobloggers @ Flickr). You may notice in this screen dump there are some overlays. I've linked some aerial photography from the Japanese Geographical Survey Institute (国土地理院). This is a great service but unfortunately is incomplete and 4 years out of date. The actual pasting of the images on the map is a painstaking process of moving and scaling the images (there's no need for rotation since they are lined up with North). I try to find some artifacts visible through the default Google Earth image to line up the image, and while using the opaque slider, I quickly check (like a hand animator) if the overlay is on the right spot. With more detailed maps I was able to make out my home and my hobby spots.

I've been checking out my old haunts, and bookmarking them as well. For example, Hirose Entertainment Yard (HEY), the shmupping heaven for players and watchers alike which I like visiting, has this store front.

It's also located at around "35.698966 139.771053" (Put this in your Google Earth search box), and looks like this from Google Earth:

Note this is the view from perhaps 1999. That colorful park on the lower left hand corner near the station is now just another building. According to a good friend, Google Earth is useless for Japan. I disagree. Though it may not have up-to-date images or a way to get directions, it gives you a general feel for the area, with names of prefectures and colors of areas. And besides, you can add the static and dynamic information as you want.

Here's Mount Fuji from "35.242334 138.694480", with Elevation Exaggeration 2.0. The "Shinkansen" bullet train is the purple path in the bottom half of the picture. That means, make sure to snag a seat on the left if you're travelling from Kobe/Osaka/Kyoto to Tokyo.

Here's some other random thoughts and gripes:

• Did you know there's a pseudo flight-simulator mode? Press Control-G on the keyboard or select G-Force control, and use your mouse to fly. Unfortunately you can't seperate your view angle from your travel angle. But it's interesting just banking around the skies.
• Save your bookmark work often by clicking on "My places" in the Places panel and choosing Save. This program is buggy in the dusty corners.
• It doesn't work with Japanese language at all, and leads to crashes.
• Name one top-level bookmark "default" and tweak the orientation so you get a dramatic startup sequence.
• Read the Readme file, it's chock full of great info.
• Display the pointer coordinates in decimal form and use that lat/long info as an easy URL-like reference. There should be a easy way to right click and "Create URL from pointer" or something.
• Play around with the layers. There are lots of detailed information for non-US areas. But there should be a way to select your favorite layers as a group.
• I can't purchase Google Earth Plus! I get some kind of "SE_ERR_ACCESSDENIED" error dialog box.
  

I've prepared a list of interesting spots in Japan as a Google Earth bookmark file (gearth-jptour.kmz). Ever wanted to figure out where Comic Market is held? It's at Tokyo Big Sight. What's a good hotel for Akihabara? Hotel Juuryaku.

Too much fun. I should have purchased this program earlier (when it was KeyHole).