Out with the Old, in with the New.
Wow. It's already 31st. Barely 14 hours left. But 2008 wasn't really much regretful. I had my ups and downs, a good run.
We had the PS3 replaced. and had Rock Band 2 and Mirror's Edge to go with it. We're rockin' anew. Man, RB2 has a whole lotta songs I don't remember. But the many features have been improved, which is great. Mirror's Edge is really sexy (and Faith's not half bad looking either), but I find myself fumbling, literally. Slips, miscalculations and poor timing seem to be part and parcel with me on Mirror's Edge. Also while scurrying about, finding my next location, it won't be long before I found myself gunned down. Sigh.

Labels: Games

GTAIV: Completed Game Story in less than 30 hours.
I got my trophy! I did the same things I did during my first run. I killed Dimitri, Kate Dies. I spared Darko. Killed Francis and wasted Playboy X. I also went ahead and got my One Man Army trophy shortly after. My total Story time was about 18 hours and 30 minutes, a sharp difference from my 2 days-something during my first run. I aced some missions I used to fail all the time and spent no time hunting for weapons.

Now, some people say getting the Liberty City Minute trophy/achievement is tough. I thought so too, until I tried it for myself. Attempting to finish the game in 30 hours or less will be tough if you're playing the game for the first time. This would be my 3rd run and first since the 1.04 +Trophies update. You can manage to finish the story in 30 hours or less if you:

• Skip all cutscenes and know your next move by heart
• Cancel all plans to hang out with Roman, Jacob, Dwayne etc
• Make no dates with girlfriends
• Drive and dodge cars like a maniac, like ALL the time
• Overlook all flying rats, stunt jumps and other non-storyline missions.
• Save only when you think you may fail the next mission

Do all that and you should be on your way to your goal. I did. I took the guys out for a short while, to do short things, not like playing pool, which takes forever. I also tried to not save all the time like I did on my first run, that will cost you some game time while you watch Niko slowly lay himself down on the bed. You shouldn't worry about obtaining ammo and weapons because the game provides you with enough firepower you can grab from downed enemies.

And because you probably will overlook stunts jumps and flying rats, it'll be easier to get your 100% because you can (ahem) Gamefaqs your way to track them down one by one. That's my plan, anyway. For now, I shall take my life back.

Labels: Games

Doing GTAIV in under 30 hours has given me a bit of an adrenaline rush here and there. I'm not saving my game as and when I see that a mission is "survivable". But "Hostile Negotiation" gave me no time to save substantially, so I had to go in and blast my way in and save Roman. I managed to plug the guy threatening me with a gun at Roman's head. This used to take 5 attempts before I got it right at the first try. Have I grown more guts with more GTAIV? Hey, I'm in 9+ hours at 34%. I'm on track.

Labels: Games

iPhone 2.2'd!
It always gotta happen to me. Bringing my iPhone for 2.2's software update, when a Apple logo and a full bar stares back at me for an hour. I pulled the plug, corrupting the thing and panicked. ACK! What did I do?!
So the ordeal is over. I stink of panic sweat. I got 2.2 but I lost my music, videos and everything else. Good thing I backed up. Always back your crap up before you do diabolical updates, people. I'm getting my stuff back on as I type. Sure hope my Super Monkey Ball and MotionX Poker game data will be there. I'm not going back there again. Still irritated by the fact I had to crash the update to get the update. Why, Apple. Why?

In other news, I'm attempting GTAIV Story missions clearance in under 30 hours to get my Gold PS3 Trophy. I did in 4 hours what took me 13 days to do (well, not exactly 13 days. The delay between, more like). I'm slowly on my way.

Labels: Games, Tech

My days in LittleBigPlanet continues.
Second Level Creation "Urban Endurance" Complete and Published!
Search jengajam on LBP Cool Levels and give it a whirl.

Labels: Games

PlayStation Network ID: jengajam
I mentioned last week, during our run for Rock Band Hall of Fame, that I got into LittleBigPlanet and got to know what it was all about. So... I did. There's me on my first level I made about two-fifths through the game. The level of creativity in the game in at an insane level. Stick this to that and that to this and soon you'll have something new to play with. Playing LBP alone isn't as fun as having 4 controllers and a party of 4 players, but you can find groups of people to play multiplayer online. I like the level of player customisation and the emotions you can make, the head and body movements you can do with SIXAXIS, and the booming voice of Stephen Fry, too. Good times.

Labels: Games

Yet, it's still cute.

We have LBP. But I didn't think/know/comprehend that such a level can be created like this.
Some Japanese Sackperson went ahead and made this recreation of Gradius. Yes. The Shooter.
THIS IS INSANE!! YET TOTALLY AWESOME!!

Labels: Clips, Games

We were like "meet the new boss" and then it ended so quickly.
We went in with 666,000 fans and came out Hall of Famers. It's not the one in Ohio, but we'll take it. Which marks the ending of our run on Rock Band, unless we feel the need to become Legendaries and play that 58-song setlist. We (ie. Death By Yoghurt) took a shot at the Hall of Fame event in Rock Band as Vocals, Bass and Drums. We scraped through unknown (unpractised) songs such as Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time" (failed twice), Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' with Disaster" (4 runs) and the final song spectacular, The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" (barely missed). Then the fireworks began as quickly as it started and the credits ran. Oh, my. We did it. And we're still in one piece!

In related news, we got a copy of LittleBigPlanet. Then I realised what the hype was all about. The game is an adorable platformer! Plus, you can make your own levels! We'll need more time with it. I downloaded the Mirror's Edge PS3 demo, too. Hand down, that's going to be a game I'm gonna buy. The Graphics and gameplay are excellent in ways only truly appreciated in HD. Fly across rooftops Parkour-style and get the goods delivered while on the run from the Bad Government. Get the HD trailer here, and get the Demo yourself.

Labels: Clips, Games

Cheap as Free.
I frequent the App Store. I usually get things that cost nothing, with the occasional Paid Apps game purchases. What I usually look out for, however, are free apps that are free for a limited time. Those are awesome, because you still get any and all updates for free.

Here's the free apps that now cost money that I scored (links open to iTunes App Store):
Air Sharing - Makes a wireless hard drive out of your iPhone. 2 Week Introductory Offer. Now costs $6.99.
Aqua Forest - Liquid simulator. Free during this year's TGS as a promotion. Now costs $7.99.
MotionX Poker - Poker Dice Game. Best App Ever. Was $4.99, bought at $0.99. Now costs $1.99.
Scoops - Tilt-motion Game. Free as promotion. Ended yesterday. Now costs $0.99.
Space Monkey - Collect Space Junk. Now costs $0.99.

Round it all up, and that's about $17.96 in savings. Neat!

Labels: Games, Tech

Sonic Chronicles and Kirby Super Star Ultra
It's my pick of the Fall Season. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, an RPG I'm having trouble with. I'm not very good at Final Fantasy-type RPGs, I'm more of a Pokemon gameplay type. I'm sorta taking my time, but I like the game. A different touch for a Sonic game. Then there's Kirby Super Star Ultra. I put in an accumulated 15 hours of gameplay, and I'm almost done with it. Kirby is one of my favourite franchises. It's a light adventure game that I can probably finish in a short period of time, but I can't resist such nice graphics and annoying soundtrack. Not featured is N+. I guess the store didn't have it, even though Sonic and Kirby came out much later than this nice, freeware-to-payware ninja game. Limited audience, I think. I also game Time Hollow a run. It's about some kid with a mysterious pen that can sear through the fabric of time to change things in the past. It's kinda cool, but at times confusing and the story is really, really short, say, about 8 hours.

Labels: Games

Nah. Don't need it.
Well, I think you've all heard. If not, then Nintendo announced their new DS iteration yesterday. The Nintendo DSi. It's a DS plus camera and music playback, minus the GBA Slot-2.

This means I can no longer:

Play GBA titles (I don't have many)

Transfer Pokémon over from cart to card (not that I ever did)

Play Guitar Hero: On Tour with the Guitar Grip (not that I'll ever feel the urge to)

Play Taito games that use the paddle controller (import-only...)

Enable vibration in games with the Rumble Pak (can't find it in stores...)

Now. This new device has a whole bunch of new software to go with it. Including the addition of something called DSiWare, downloadable games and/or applications that will run on the DS. This puts it on par with the PSP's PSP Store and the iPhone's App Store. I was interested in that. Having a camera sounds good too and it has music playback and bigger screens. But! The thing that lost my vote was the lack of a GBA slot.

The above are 5 good reasons why the DS may still surpass the DSi. Oh, and the DS Lite still has a better battery life. So. I think I'll hold on to my DSes for now. I'm sure Mario and Luigi RPG 3 and the new WarioWare will be made for all DS types anyway. My DS and my DS Lite are still in good working condition. Well, my DS Lite's R button's a bit wonky, but it's still good nonetheless.

(The picture is just my DS Lite with a bunch of stickers I drew and pasted on.)

Labels: Games, Tech

If there's one thing I like, it's Game soundtracks that go classical music.
This 23-minute medley comprises much of the soundtrack from the freeware game, Dokutsu Monogatari, better known in English as Cave Story.
The game is still free, and I guess you'll need to play the game to get the feeling I'm having when I watched this.

Labels: Clips, Games, Music

Just finished the first ten levels of Super Monkey Ball on my iPhone. Yes, just this moment. Considering I bought the game 2 weeks ago The game is that complicated. I always had trouble with stage 7. Too many slopes. Almost Game Over'd too.

Labels: Games

Wake Up, Neo.
Well! Project 2 is completed and behind me and my group. 2 months of work. Now, for a month's break. I went ahead and had a go on "The Secret of Monkey Island" (yes, THAT Monkey Island). I finished it this morning. I had a few peeks at a walkthrough, because, being a game from the days of an IBM PC, it felt lacking something. Mind you, I only started my days in Monkey Island with the 3rd installment ("Curse", which I replayed again a long while back. A favourite), so I had no chance to experience the glories of 256-colour and some matter of sound. Still, it's just as humourous as Curse. I enjoyed it.

Now, on to my purpose. My biological clock will always wake me up at 9am. This morning (and in fact it occurred many a time already), I woke up, yes. But something felt different. I've been having this subconscious problem. I dream I'm awake. Then I awake from that dream, to find myself in another dream that I'm awake in. This is seriously annoying, but I'm just so damn lazy to actually wake up, so I'll keep dreaming and waking in another dream. I hope this doesn't mean anything.

Labels: Games

Shoot 'em in the back now.
About 7:45 tonight, my (i.e. Damon Hyde) rendition of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" passed a 100% during a Practice session on Expert, first try. So, why not, I thought, and proceed to my solo gig with that same song on Expert. It's funny how us humans can't always manage to do the impossible twice in a row, because I found myself spending the next hour singing the song over and over again. I wanted so much to replicate my 100%, so when the x4 multiplier broke, I had to restart the gig.

The trouble was I somehow forgot how I did it and it's the last line of the song that slipped me up. Apparently, the final "Pulsatin' to the back beat. The Blitzkrieg Bop" couldn't fill the multiplier streak all the way, and broke it. Then, things got worse. I totally lost the pitch or vocal quality of that line during one of the three times the line appears in the lyrics. I tried replacing it with "The Kids are losing their minds", but that didn't work very well. Here's the oh-so-agonising bit. When I missed an earlier part, I always almost manage to get the last line right. Must have sung it like 23 times.

But never mind. Here's my score, streak and 5 Gold Stars for posterity. Not really in the mood for that one anymore. I'll dedicate this to the Ramones.

See also: The Lyrics to "Blitzkrieg Bop"

Labels: Games, Music

GTAIV Gameplay Outtake.

I finally managed to drift a donut on the streets of Liberty City. I wasn't even trying. Accident. For Reals.

Labels: Games

Hey, oh, Let's Go!

The Box, The Band, The Sticks.

We got ourselves (possibly the parallel import of) ROCK BAND yesterday and spent a whole 7-plus hours rocking out the best we could with a faulty drum peripheral (the green pad whacked out). The game is the AWESOME (I really need to use another adjective, but the game is what it is). I wasn't good with with Guitar Hero, so Guitar or Bass isn't my strength, but anyone can sing (or mash the words into pitch) and my dream has always been to play the drums. The green pad was non-functional, so we had to hit the X button on the controller to hit the crash cymbal.
But man, I got to play "Here it goes Again", of which the lyrics memorised since I heard of OK Go's inclusion in the game. Another thing I love about the game is the Vocal gameplay, where the microphone peripheral measures pitch.

"Death by Yoghurt" (formerly known as "The Clockwork Park") World Tour Coming Soon!
Vocals: Damon Hyde, Guitar: Nana DeStrange, Drums: Dave Hiro.

Labels: Games, Music

Can you believe this is schoolwork?
Over a course of 2 weeks, my class had to learn the basics and steps to create the parts that make a flash game when it all comes together. Here's mine. GunDown. Basically a police-style shooting range game. It includes actionscripting for scoring, timing and random jumping systems. I didn't want jumping, so I used something online (can't remember, I'll get back to this) to have random movement with acceleration that speeds up and slows down when it moves. I threw in accuracy, shot and hit counters of my own plus a ranking system based on score (a la Virtua Cop).

I enjoyed making GunDown, and I think I can muster something new in due time. Worth noting that this game can be exploited on slower computers, say, an iBook G3. And A's not the highest rank. Enjoy.

Play GunDown.

Labels: Artwork, Games

Burnout Paradise v1.30

Starting splash before Cagney (left) and after (right)

I don't know which is seriously better. Waiting to get the update and seeing how it's all worth it, loving the new installed features or knowing it's totally free.
CriterionGames released the 'Cagney' update to Burnout Paradise. I must have gotten it when the rest of the world did, because it took about 3 hours to download and install. When it does, it greets you with a whole new look, plus the latest online buzz during the loading process (right). Lots of new features, including new race modes, new cars, a custom soundtrack and, my personal favourite, sirens and lights on the two police vehicles (joy). I haven't really got into Online just yet, but I think Cagney gives me enough reasons to do so now, with the new Road Rage games online.

There's still Davis in late August, offering motorcycle racing, night racing and weather changes, plus the new island opening with Eastwood in the coming months.

Labels: Games

What, no Cagney?
Think, Julian. Think. If it's not even 9pm here, would it be 9pm Today in the UK? I just got so excited about the Cagney update for Burnout Paradise, I totally forgot.

and... I just realised that it's coming only on Thursday at 9am. Great, more waiting. Lousy Time Zones.

Labels: Games

Subject to Imagination-to-Reality Limitations
I'm doing a Interactive Authoring class. Basically we have to play with Flash and make buttons, scoring systems and timers. These will form together to make a game. I now understand the premises of Flash game-making and soon will be able to make simple games or mash up these topics to make more complex applications.
If my games are worthy of releasing to the public, I'll post them right here.

Word is a-buzz about the PS3 Firmware 2.40 that's locking up systems everywhere. I actually got it installed and things ran fine. I didn't run games, only spent about 5 minutes running through the new features and getting a feel-feel. Hope it stays that way. Meanwhile, I spent sometime on Tuesday to make a GTA IV tutorial on surviving a six-star wanted rating. I'll post it as an entry you'll see below.

Labels: Games

Getting the NOOSE at the comfort of your own home.

Spent some time Tuesday and made this. It's basically a sure-fire way to earn a 5-minute time on a six-star wanted rating for you X360s and PS3 people out there. It's not the subway method. This version you actually get to shoot something. Also good if you unlocked all 3 islands already and want the "One Man Army" achievement.

PS. Original Video was 23 minutes long. Edited out a long chase sequence to PB X's safehouse, and a couple bloopers I made.

Labels: Clips, Games

Life is Sweet in Liberty City.
Game Stats:
Story Time: 2d 18:21:25 @ 123 Game Days
Progress: 74.25%
Cash: $963281
from Missions: $956027
from the Streets: $18962
Died: 12
Busted: 1
Bullets Fired: 10686
Killed: 564 (450 Run-down)
Cheated: 0 (Yay!)
Cars Stolen: 318
Vehicles blown up: 202
Addiction Level: Perpetual Night Party

During my absence from all this time. I completed Niko Bellic's Story. In a pathetic overall game time of 2 days, 18:21:25, but completed nonetheless. I already vowed to take my time with GTA IV and damn well complete it too. And I did, making GTA2 and GTA IV the only GTA stories I've ever completed. I'd finish the game yesterday, but I had trouble doing the final mission. But shooting Pegorino in the face was well-worth the redoings. I might take the Deal route and play the other ending. Might.
I took the Revenge route and killed Dimitri. I couldn't bear to see Roman get killed, so I let that lousy Kate McReary die instead. Never really dated her out much. I chose to kill Playboy X and Francis McReary and spared Darko Brevic. My Death and Busted numbers seem low simply because I reload my last save instead of replaying the mission.
All that's left to do is Assassin, Brucie's Cars, Stevie's Cars, Stunts, Flying Rats and lots of other stuff both online and off. Still the best game I've ever played. Has the game become simpler, or have I become more well adjusted to shooting people in the head with a wanted level? The cover system might play a part in that.

In a well-timed fashion, it's back to school tomorrow. Yay?

Labels: Games

LCPD: Suspects are still at Large.
Algonquin, Liberty City - Two drug dealers, an Eastern European man and another man, known as "Playboy X", fled the scene of a LCPD drug bust yesterday afternoon after wounding at least 11 LCPD officers, including an undercover, who took several bullets as the suspects took the stairs up to the roof of the building. Gunfire was heard as a massive stand-off involving at least 6 LCPD officers took place.
The two suspects went down the stairs of an adjacent building, stole a car and were last seen crossing the newly-reopened Algonquin Bridge and disappeared into the crowded city. The police have traced the identity of the Eastern European man to one Niko Bellic, believed to be involved in the shootout at the Perestroika Cabaret Club. Investigations continue.

Yes! I'm now in Algonquin! Such a beautiful city! Comedy Club! Business Suits! No more Six-star rating for me! My Grand Theft Adventure continues. Man, I love the new cover system. At least now I don't get shot al the time.

Labels: Games

Out with the Old.


New Game: Namely Grand Theft Auto IV. I think it's the best in the series. 10/10 points everywhere can't be wrong. You know the drill. Steal cars, do missions, 'off' enemies, push pedestrians around and bash criminals for cash. But all in HD and very good animation. When you plough a car at high speed, you'll FLY outta the windscreen. When you die (like after you plough a car at high speed) everything goes slo-mo and fades to black. I'm a wimp when it comes to these games so I'm sorta taking my time with the missions. Meantime, I push people around and pick criminals out with a stolen Police Cruiser for ammo and cash. Just like Burnout Paradise, I'd thought I get a feel of the 2 opening islands first. So I'm driving around for kicks.

New Opticals: My Paul Frank Blues Explosion glasses with transitions lenses have arrived. Pretty cool. The photochromic lenses turn from clear to shades on contact with UV. Neat. I look like some familiar Singapore Director. I'll leave that to you.

New Watch: I finally have a watch that'll take me 5 seconds to tell the time. It's a Nooka ZUB ZENV. Whatever that means. I'd like to point out that I've never seen this watch before I made hOP strip #74. I SWEAR.

That's all I've got. Yup. I'll be here.

Labels: Games, Tech

The Achievement for Smashing through Private Property.

Behold! The Carson Carbon GT Concept. Look at that Boost! Car awarded for finding and plowing through all Smashes in Paradise City. I've been searching for the last 4 smashes for days, until I got serious and did a city-wide search. The Last Smash was in White Mountain. Hurrah.

Labels: Games

The Achievement for Racing like a Madman.
After my best Road Rage with 51 takedowns and 61% through the game, I scored my Burnout (Paradise) Licence. Like DJ Atomika said, it ain't over yet. I still have cars to unlock and all the races to complete. The thing says "Elite in 104 Wins". That's a hell lot more racing to do, plus I want to do all the Road Rules. All I want to unlock is the Hunter Citizen cop car. Boys will be Boys.

My cheesecake has come to fruition and is sitting in the fridge to chill. Also, notice the new Puff-x navigation flash. It's finally done.

Labels: Food, Games, Update

Over the past 2 days, three things happened.
One. The method of control for Guitar Hero DS, dubbed, "On Tour", has been announced. It's a special controller adapter that plugs into the GBA slot during gameplay. This controller is the size of the average fist. A strap clings on to your hand as your 4 fingers lay on the 4 fret buttons while your other hand strums on the touch screen. This alone was a 'ZOMG' to me. That thing looks wicked awesome and it'll make my list of Killer Games to Get in 2008. Songs will include, not limited to, Master tracks of Nirvana and OK Go. Master tracks, yes, but will the DS's speakers ruin the experience?

Two. MacNN.com has an article that claims that Singtel has clinched the deal to be the exclusive telco for the iPhone locally. True or not, it'll not be until September 2008. Singtel? C'mon. I mean... c'mon... But I remain on my stand that I don't like my gadgets all-in-one. I keep my Phone, iPod and Game consoles separate (The iPod touch doesn't count).

Three. I got my tickets for Pillowman. Collection fee sponsored by Mastercard, I'm on my way!

Image Credit: IGN
iPhone to reach Singapore in September?[MacNN.com]

Labels: Games, Tech

Best. Car Ad. Ever.

I love Spy Hunter. Mainly because I can never finish the game and such a game is a classic. I wonder how they did the live-action sequence.

Labels: Clips, Games

OMG Pillowman!
woot. "The Pillowman" is up for a second season. I missed it last December. This is my good chance to go watch a play like this. But, none in my family are even any bit interested, so I guess I'll be on my own.
I witnessed the demos of Patapon and echochrome. One, a fun Locoroco RTS Rhythm game, the other an artistic play on perspective. Both equally fun (echochrome, not so, because it's a really short demo).

Oh, and I unravelled the Mystery of St. Mystere. Professor Layton Story Mode completed, but I haven't got the smarts to solve all the puzzles. I'm looking forward to every Monday's new Puzzle.

Finally, I've changed the blog's default font size up one from 8pt. It's slightly larger now.

Labels: Games

"I think I've got it!"
Screw Apollo Justice! "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" has my priority on my ever-growing list of Killer DS games. Lured by the hefty collection of brain puzzlers and "fully voiced movies (with) lush music". Very cool. But the puzzles can and will BSoD your brain. The puzzle may be hard to solve, but you'll pop when you notice the answer is simply obtained. I'm stuck on a couple of puzzles and I'm forcing myself not to use hints to score as perfect a game as possible.
Apart from that, the graciousness of Nintendo providing free weekly new extra puzzles over the WiFi Connection is making this game even more buyable. This is a trilogy too! So I'll have to get the sequel to unlock "Top Secret" Mode.

Happy 53rd Birthday, Steve Jobs.

Labels: Games

Crash Your Car! It's Paradise City.
No smartass title. Too awesome.
I've been a fan of burnout since I played Burnout 2. I have a need to crash stuff. I can't drive a virtual car (note. virtual. don't try this on y/our roads) without wanting to crash it and see it explode in a fiery ball. Midtown Madness, Grand Theft Auto 2, GTA:SA and GTA:LTC have all fueled this need of mine. But you always wind up having a tail of cops chasing you. Burnout Paradise is my dream game. Burnout 3 was a dream, but BP was 'heck, yeah!'

We bought the game for the PS3. The graphics, of course, are astonishing, not to even mention the HUGE open city they have you racing in. It's Huge. Trust me. It takes a full 4 minutes just to get from one end to the other. My gosh. We lost control of the car, too shocked to be hearing Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" playing on the EATrax List. Why is that a Racing game song? Ugh, how ghastly. I threw that off the playlist (good feature) and we got down to business.

But the game came with a (shudder) Chinese manual. Traditional Chinese. So I couldn't read squat off it. It was only till I fiddled with pressing L1 + R1 together, when the fun really started. I was laughing myself silly with Showtime mode. It's the new Crash event, only that you can start Showtime anytime, anywhere, with any car. Plus, the physics of this is crazy. Took me a while to get used to it, but I'm sure I'll beat it next time.

I don't care what you're a fan of. Buy the Game.

PS. We also got Devil May Cry 4. Enjoy the half-hour installation process!

Labels: Games

When Drunk-looking Cowboys were cool.

Casio's Western Bar: (from left) Closed, Open and Display Off.

I flipped through a local heritage site called yesterday.sg and found a part of me that was a part of them. A game called Western Bar, an old Casio LCD Game Handheld that has been with my sister (then, me) for the most part of our lives. It's a Western shooter game. Like yesterday.sg puts it, it's really noisy too, so there's some tape stuck on to muffle the sound. Thankfully, I found out today that ours is still a working lil' machine (circa 1990). It just needed batteries. But the 'Start/On' button is spoilt and you have to reset the batteries to rev it up again.

The game starts off with you as a beer-wielding cowboy in a bar. You have to shoot through glasses, grog jug-bottles and plates flying across the bar as the crazed (bored) bartender throws them. Shooting a glass, bottle and plate with a sigle shot gains you a combo score. To make things interesting, the only other 2 patrons will get annoyed by your shooting and start throwing apples and hats at you. If you're hit, you get a MISS. 3 MISSes and the game ends. In later levels, a stick of TNT will come flying in from outside. Shoot it and it explodes. MISS!

Soon after, footsteps will be heard. A burly looking nogooder steps into the bar. Showdown! You crouch behind a up-heaved table as he hides behind the counter. He comes out and shoots your shield (table) and a piece flies off (3 pieces before you're defenceless). Shoot him before he does three times and he runs for it. Hurray, Cowboy!

That's basically it. I remember playing it with gusto. We only had a Game Boy brick too heavy to lug around back then. Those were the days...

Labels: Games

USG-001 GET!
I got a Nintendo DS Lite a few days back. Y'know, when I turned 19. What's there to say. Oh, yes. Thanks! Love to the peoples.
It's like watching TV 16:9, you don't wanna revert back to something else when the DS Lite is lighter and has a brighter screen and a longer stylus. Yay. I like.
Well, I missed a glimpse of a Hero. The Heroes from "Heroes" came to town, but I had classes. I wasn't expecting to go. I didn't even consider going back to the Alma Mater for Teechurs Day.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6883 days
I defeated the Elite Four and Champion Cynthia last Thursday, 7th June 2007, making this my first ever self-attained Pokemon Championship. It was crazy. I almost lost it. Until Cynthia's Pokemon's attacks kept missing. I defeated Cynthia with my 2 remaining Half-dead Pokemon. The Hall of Fame are as follows:

Gustly - Gastly Lv51
Pippy - Empoleon Lv61
Dialga - Dialga Lv51
Elynx - Luxray Lv61
Rioluna - Lucario Lv62
Gravelia - Graveler Lv51

Yep, most of my team aren't even fit to bash Cynthia's Pokemon of max Lv66. But I did it. Crazy Lucky.
As of now, I have Dialga, Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, Rotom, Cresselia and Giratina. I'll be going after Heatran next.
The Global Trade System is crazy. Seeking Pokemon is pointless. I just let the Pokemon come to me.

Update: I removed the video lagging me off. Watch it here.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6848 days

For once in these past five years, Microsoft has impressed me. The above is a Popular Mechanics video for the most "Minority Reportest" thing thus far. Microsoft Surface is a new-fangled "surface computer" that one can use on a regular coffee table. Think of it as a giant iPhone, having has a touch-sensitive surface for interaction. The thing that took me away was the place-your-device-on-the-table auto-sync function. (clap. clap. clap). It's 5 years in the making, and will cost approximately ten-grand.

I've seen and fiddled around with something similar on my iFuture experience at the Science Centre. It also had a touch-sensitive interface, but the sensors and projection were propped overhead. I'm just happy that a Minority Report touchy-touchy future lies ahead.

(I'd like to say once again that I'm not impressed with the iPhone. I'm impressed with the iPod functions and photo viewing on the iPhone, but nothing else on it).

In other news, I caught my Mesprit, completing the Pre-Elite Four Legendary Trio. That @#$%! Pokémon has been evading capture, flying around and around. I trained my Gastly to Lv48 and used a Mean Look before putting to sleep. I threw Ultra Ball after Ultra Ball, before it woke the thrid time and wiped out my Gastly. Threw out Dialga and a last Ultra Ball, knowing it would flee after that. But the ball shook 3 times and after 4 weeks of tracking it down, I caught it. Now to face the Pokémon League.

Labels: Games, Tech

EXP 6816 days
My name is Cristo, andI am a Pokemans Trainer.
Look, Cristo was the only (one of the) good names I could in a measly 7 character name, and Judacris doesn't sound good for trainer's name. I got my copy of Pokémon Diamond! Nothing strange. I've manhandled my share of Pokémon games from Red to Crystal to Emerald to Diamond. It's go friggin' awesome this one. Besides being on the DS, everything about it is very cool. The 3D graphics, the new features, the day-to-night transition, the new Pokemans Pokémon and a sharp soundtrack. But sadly, I couldn't play as the Girl character. WiFi issues. I don't wanna seem weird on the Nintendo WFC. But yes, I have been playing as the Girl character since Crystal. It's just that I find the Guy character looking hideous.

Anyway. it's about 10pm on the dot now. Saturday. Leno. Then more Pokémon.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6804 days 300th Post.

Considering this was to be my last off-day for so very long before my Freshmen Orientation tomorrow, I decided to do something I always wanted. I chanced upon "Snake in a Box" this morning on Kotaku.com. It's a Solid Snake papercraft. I'm a fan of MGS, but I don't play it much, though I watch the game being played. So why not? So I got it printed out and went into manual labour. Took me an hour and a half. End product (above, shown with comparative) looks good except for a few bad folds and gaps. Good thing I kept that cylinder-type container. I don't think it will like water very well.

More Photos on my flickr, which only allows me to jam 3 flickr sets maximum. Damn.

Labels: Games

6803 days past
Date Speculation. D.S. DS. Nintendo DS. Bad joke. Here, I'd like to share the dates I'm watching for my killer list of DS games of '07. In best-fit chronological order, they are:

• Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - 22nd April (Next Week!)
  
• Simcity DS - 19th June
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - June 2007 or Q4 2007
  
  
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 25th September
  (Hoping for a Japan import release with English Localisation to get and play before most of the rest of the world. )
  
  
• Sonic Rush Adventure - Fall 2007 (Yes!!)
  
• My Sims - Q4 2007
  

Goody.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6787 days
I saw Rockstar's GTA IV Teaser Trailer (Yes, it's out!). I'll bet one-fifth of the gaming world have already seen it.
It's intriguing. It shows Liberty (New York) City in Dreamworks-style realism. It's-a very good.
It's too short, though. But it's a teaser, so what're you gonna do?
Rockstar says the trailer is all game and no pre-rendered gimmicks. People are also saying that the protagonist is Russian.
Interesting.

I won't put the trailer here. You'll need to watch it in all it's crystal-sharp Glory.
Grand Theft Auto IV Teaser Trailer

TMNT ToMorrow NighT

Labels: Games

On 6786 days

Behold! Sega has announced a Sonic and Mario game with both of them together in the game. It's an Olympic game game.
What?! Why? Give me a Super Smash Collaboration!
Also. We as a F1 racetrack may not be a impossibility at all! We could get details on the approval of the street track spanning Raffles Boulevard as soon as tomorrow! This would be interesting...

Too many too-good-to-be-true things are coming true... Something is wrong!

Labels: Games

Existence: 6758 days Feeling Cold
It's been raining all morning. My Magnet Thermometer says the room's 23°C. No Matter. I got my issue of SonicX #16 last night! Not that it matters much to most of you, but this is the one where Sonic finally dates Amy out. Sure, it's been weeks since Valentine's Day, but I only knew about this issue just recently. I was hunting it around the malls without success and was about to head to eBay for it. But my sis told me about a Comic store in Bugis (I should go back there one day) so I called the place up. and they had "plenty in stock". DAMN! and that's the story. I love that Cover art and the story's not that bad either, but it will be definitely ruined if was an animated episode with an English dub. You don't see much official artwork like this. I have my share of fanart in this genre.

Great! Simcity will be on it's way to the rest of the world's Nintendo DS this Summer! So Japan doesn't get everything cool! And MySims! Yes! Yay, nintendo!

Labels: Games

Existence: 6750 days
Listening to "White and Nerdy" - "Weird Al" Yankovic

Recap: Perth, Australia
We went to a Coles Supermarket in Perth and bought, among other things, boxes of not-seen-here Soup mixes. We bought a box of Continental's Asian Laksa. We mixed up a batch this afternoon. My God. It was great. It's Coconut-free and yet so creamy. It's Good. Very, very good.
(Photo taken with empty box and a cup that was not used)

Nintendo of Japan has announced a sequel to Ouendan (aka Elite Beat Agents) for release this very year.
Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, oh my.

and finally, Puff-x will be moving servers pre-tee soon, so I'll have more space to dump my crap. Yay!

Labels: Food, Games

Existence: 6739 days Feeling relieved.
Well I got my results yesterday. Not very well, but not drastically horrid either. I can move on to a Polytechnic now. Yet another step forward. JAE is due Wednesday, people.
I just completed, 100%, the whole of New Super Mario Bros. on my DS. All 8 worlds complete, all Star Coins collected, earning me my 3-star insignia next to my save file and a lovely new background image to boot. I believe that this makes my very first completed completed game. I don't think I've done a 100% on any game before, except maybe for Curse of Monkey Island.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6737 days Feeling STILL NERVOUS

Manga. Movie. Anime and now, Game.
And it's a Konami. Can't go wrong with Konami.

Labels: Clips, Games

Existence: 6705 days Feeling Cool
A worthy follow-up to Ouendan! I got my copy of Elite Beat Agents. The differences between EBA and Ouendan are very obvious. Level Selection is a sweet 3D globe compared to Ouendan's flat map. The Elite Beat Agents look more flexible than their Japanese counterparts. And a "Replay Save" function! Wow! Being more westernised, it somehow lacks the Japanese flair. But more features and more songs are nothing to complain about! But the Easy mode makes the player look dumb. I don't think we need a finger prodding our every move.

Agents are... GO!!

Labels: Games

Existence: 6696 days Feeling Famished
No. Don't look at my dumb expression. Look at the PS3. That Black thing in a plastic box away from the prying hands of evil minions like us. What? Of course it's playable! With a risk of it overheating and blowing up without meeting the Singapore Safety Label standards. There was 2 PS3s among 4 Xbox360s. Above the PS3 is an Acer LCD monitor which made Ridge Racer 7 look all blurry. But nuts to that. It's a Real PS3!! It is true though, the SIXAXIS controller is too different without Rumble Vibration. What's a paint-peeling side grind without it? My disappointment was the lack of a Wii. They could have at least had one on show.
Back to Earth, I was at iFuture, some exhibition at the Science Centre yesterday. It was cool. iSpace was better there were these RFID tags which you couldn't keep (aww, damn!). I went for my first IMAX flick too. A number of exhibits were "being upgraded". Stupid kids. We didn't cover the whole lot but we did just enough to see the stuff they had for sale. There's this cool Pin Clock that cost $171. It embosses a pin mosaic to tell the time. Cool.

Also, my new Blog header is out. Manga experts will soon find a fatal flaw on my mock-manga header. But it's good nonetheless. Go Cris-kun!

Labels: Artwork, Games

Existence: 6674 days Feeling Calm

Something possessed me to put this video here, but it's just too damn clever. This is a mash of the Intro Sequences from "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" (left) and "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" (right) with Casino Royale's Intro Song, "You Know My Name" as sung by Chris Cornell. Fitting, though MGS2 seems to do the job better.
Did I also mention that the Casino Royale Opening Sequence is to die for? It's so Brilliant using the suits of playing cards. Sure, there's a video of it on youtube, but it's not good enough for fullscreen.

Update!!

This one is also too good to pass up. This is a Bond Movie Conceptual Opening Sequence made with brilliant effort. Consider it a "Fan-opening" to Casino Royale.

Labels: Games, Movies, Music

Existence: 6674 days Dying Virtually
I've been down playing a spectacular freeware adventure game. Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari) is really, really cool Japanese Pixel-graphic game with a great soundtrack and storyline. Consider it to be a mash of Megaman and Metal Slug. Enemies to gain weapon experience from and boss fights. But there's decisions to make that will affect your adventure. The path you choose. I chose a hard path and I've done myself in. I can't get to see the last stages!! But cool game. Cool game nonetheless.

I'm down with what I call "Project: 5A". A photoCD for the class of 5A. I didn't realise how easy iMovie actually is to use.
I've also been doing my personal Xmas greetings for the year. Friends and family will be getting it soon. Busy Busy.

The Blog's Official name is now cris-kun's blog. I'm dropping the "Cris de cœur" thing once and for all.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6666 days Feeling Cool
I made this a couple of weeks back. I always hated having to use both hands while playing Phoenix Wright and I didn't want prints on my touch screen.
So I made this using an elastic band that came with my Sony Ericsson Charger and folded on a piece of paper and as simply as that, I got myself a strapless thumb stylus.
Notice I called it "Strapless". The thumb strap on the DS (as seen on the photo) was a total hindrance and limited my touching range which drove me to do this. Yay!

See the photoset Here.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6666 (ack!) days Feeling Tired-ish
3 Flashing Reds? No Problem. *whack whack whack*

I've been watching Prison Break. I'll be back with something I've done later on.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6662 days Feeling Cold
Got a shot at Guitar Hero 2 late last night (I'm a Guitar Hero, too!). Most about it looks like Ouendan, ranging itself from 4 different levels of strumming madness. I'm not good at it nor am I totally wasted on it. It's hella fun, but I'll stick to Ouendan. So I'm back at Gyakuten Saiban 2 (PW:JFA), a game I'm good at.

My last phone bill coughed up $40. I found out why. That sneaky thing has been secretly checking for messages on my iMail. S'itch! I turned it on "Manual" checks now. Sony Ericsson screwed me!

"Compliments of Toni Cipriani."
After several, several attempts on trying to eliminate 'Wayne' while riding a bike, I finally got off my bike, slapped a cheat and used an Assault Rifle. I got so pissed on him taunting me so much. He got what he deserved. Oh, yes. I took his money too.
Ahh, Liberty City Stories...

Labels: Games

Existence: 6656 days Feeling Okay.
The Wii will be released for public groping all around the world today and I'm about to watch James Blonde...er, Bond... in action.
That is all. woot.

With over 6 million Wiis up for Sale, I don't expect a PS3-esque Riot in America. Screw the Playstation 3.
Raving Rabbids!!

Labels: Games

Hopeless Optimism: #59 Released.

See this and More on the Hopeless Optimism Page.

Labels: Games, hOP

Existence: 6647 days Feeling Like the Devil's Plaything.
Well, it's me again. Got away from the books for a while.
I got Gyakuten Saiban 2 (逆転裁判２) straight from Japan when Edwin (Thanks!) went to Tokyo. Due to House Restrictions, I'm unable to play it until my exams are officially over. For the gaming ignorant, Gyakuten Saiban 2 is a sequel to Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten (逆転裁判 蘇る逆転). Some of you may know it as "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All". Well, I like the Japanese title/version better. It's got Japanese and English together as one. Eager to play it. Then again, Elite Beat Agents is out. HOT DAMN! The reviews are calling it almost there, but oh, so not quite from Ouendan, it's Japanese Counterpart. And the Wii comes out next week! SO DOES THE PS3!! AHHHH!! This November is THE gamer month!! Launch Titles! Launch Titles!!

Oh, and I have a new mobile with me now. It's a Sony Ericsson (as always) K610im, the K610i with the iMode functions. Turns out it can't blog from the phone itself like the K610i, oh well. Nice phone, but it works up my bluetooth on the Mac. It's not iSync-able yet, but I don't think that's the problem. But Yay! New Phone!

Labels: Games

Existence: 6627 days Feeling Hungry
Caught Death Note last night. Cool. But after flipping through the manga, found out that it's more of an adaptation of the series with a similar plot and storyline. I find the entire concept cool. A Death Note(book). I'm sure they print those to scare the living hell outta people.

• "The human whose name is written in this note shall die."

Funny thing. "L" does his communication to the police through Apple Computers. That's huge on the endorsements. Speakers, microphone, display, everything! I saw the movie without knowing the actual storyline. So almost anyone can actually watch it. Oh, I got the Review right Here. There's a sequel coming out (Obviously, otherwise there's no proper ending to part one). "Death Note: The Last Name" will hit cinemas some time December. Interest is now also on "Sinking of Japan". Now Why would they make a doomsday movie about their own country?!



Clash of the Titans.
Console Wars! hehheh. So I got the PS3 ID strap, an Xbox360 Handphone strap and the Nintendo DS stylus strap, which I put there for the fun of competition comparison. All i need now it the Wii-mote strap ad I'm all set. By the way, these are the real stuff, not those you get down some... some... STORE!


Whoops... there goes my tagbox. data overwritten.
damn.

Labels: Games

Existence: 6612 days Feeling Hyped
The Haze is really bad. The Adjacent HDB blocks are all blurry. NEA stops their checks at 7pm so we can all die after 7pm. Great, now there's a few ways to die in this country. Gastric or Asthma? Meh, eyes getting a bit dry.

I only saw the boxart for Sonic Rivals today. Thus the picture. I think they added Silver in at the Last Minute or were really keeping shut about it during the last months to keep shut about the new character in SonicNext. Also found out that Silver is a wee Hedgehog. Since Sonic is 15, I'm guessing he's 13 (you read it here first). I like the Rivals Artwork. It's all like "Me First! Go Away!". Funny.
I saw the wicked new Trailer for SonicNext too. The one featured at TGS06. The trailer's a bit controversial. I know there's an ulterior relationship of Sonic and Elise as friends (I hope.) but the ending is a bit of a show. I think Youtube has it. I don't know what extremes Sega might get to, but I won't like it. I need to see gameplay in front of me. NOW!

Will the Zune get viruses with malicious software? I sure hope so ;)

(*PM10 is the stupid particulate that's messin up the air)

Labels: Games

Existence: 6592 days Feeling "Meh."
I ask you. What is 6548 divided by 7?
You say 935.4282514..., right?
Well, my calculator says it's...
C0.RJ571429
It also changed my 7 to a 6 after messing up my '6548'. How Thoughtful.
My Calculator is on a Low Battery. So any shadows cast on the delicate Solar Cells will mess the calculator up. I've obviously changed the battery so as not to suffer during a mathematics exam. I also have another spare calculator. Thanks for your concern.

The Wii's Pricing and Release date is finally known. America to get it first on November 19th at US$249. Then Japan on December 2nd at ¥25000. Then Europe for £149/€249 on December 8th. Will Wii beat the PS3? That's will be interesting...

And SonicX is back on TV, but I won't be bothered. The Dubbed English version, as I've found out 2 years ago, sucks. So I'm waiting